2020–21 Dhivehi Premier League

The 2020–21 Dhivehi Premier League will be the 6th season of the Premier League, the top Maldivian professional league for association football clubs since its establishment in 2015. Maziya are the defending champions, having won their third league title the previous season, their second in the Premier League era, having last won in 2016. The season was initially scheduled to start in June,[1] but this was delayed until December as a consequence of the delay of the 2020 AFC Cup and 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in Asia and in the Maldives.[2]

Dhivehi Premier League
Season2020–21
Dates13 December 2020 – May 2021
2021–22 →

Teams

Initially, ten teams were set to compete in the league – the top eight teams from the previous season and the two teams promoted from the Second Division. The promoted teams are Club Valencia and Super United Sports.[3] On 22 July 2020, Football Association of Maldives announced that this season will be held with eight teams. This is due to temporarily holding off the Premier League slots for the teams promoting from the Jazeera Championship as the 2020 edition was called off due to COVID-19 pandemic in the Maldives, meaning Foakaidhoo FC and Nilandhoo Sports Club are forced to play in the 2021 Jazeera Championship even though they survived relegation.[4]

Valencia is returning after a season's absence in the first division (three seasons in Premier League). This is the first season in the Premier League for Super United Sports. They replaced Victory Sports Club and New Radiant (both teams relegated after suspension due to financial reasons).[3]

Teams and their divisions
Note: Table lists clubs in alphabetical order.
Team Division
Eagles Maafannu
Green Streets Machchangolhi
Valencia Machchangolhi
Da Grande Maafannu
Maziya West Maafannu
Super United Machchangolhi
TC Sports Club Henveiru
United Victory Galolhu

Personnel

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team Head Coach Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor (chest) Shirt sponsor (back) Shirt sponsor (sleeve) Short
Club Eagles Mohamed Shiyaz Hussain Sifaau Jerzia
Green Streets Ali Nisthar Mohamed Rilwan Waheed Captain Maldives
Valencia Mohamed Athif Ali Ashfaq Jerzia
Da Grande Ismail Mahfooz Yasfaadh Habeeb Malhi MV
Maziya Mohamed Nizam Asadhulla Abdulla Ooredoo Maldives
TC Sports Mohamed Shazly Mohamed Azzam
Super United Ahmed Nashid Ahmed Farhan Sports Emporium Fathaha Mall (main)
Heena Mobiles		 SJ Group (top)
Maldives Wave (bottom)		 Albion Store LITUS
United Victory Mohamed Adam Mohamed Arif Jerzia

Coaching changes
Team Outgoing Head Coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming Head Coach Date of appointment
Maziya Marjan Sekulovski[5] End of contract 2 July 2020 Pre-season Mohamed Nizam[6] 21 July 2020
Super United Ibrahim Shafiu 20 February 2020 Ahmed Nashid[7] 13 September 2020
Valencia Ilmau Hussain Ibrahim 20 February 2020 Mohamed Athif[8] 16 October 2020
Maziya Mohamed Nizam[9] Resigned 27 December 2020 1st Ahmed Suzayr (interim) 27 December 2020
Maziya Ahmed Suzayr (interim) Arrival of new coach 3 January 2021 2nd Risto Vidaković[10] 3 January 2021
Club Eagles Mohamed Shiyaz Mutual consent 16 January 2021 7th Vaccent TBA
United Victory Mohamed Adam Resigned 16 January 2021 8th Ihsan Abdul Ghanee (interim) 16 January 2021

Foreign players
Club Visa 1 Visa 2 Visa 3 Visa 4 (Asian)
Club Eagles Ismaël Yanogo Adnan Bašić
Green Streets Khalil Elbezawy Angel Carrasco Muñoz Elsayed Mahmoud Saqib Hanif
Valencia Jose Dominguez Toni Soler Vladislav Nuriev
Da Grande Otabek Khaydarov Abdurasal Komilov Akhror Umarjonov
Maziya Cornelius Stewart Petar Planić Nikola Vujanac
TC Sports Malcolm Stewart Elmaddin Mammadov Duckson Puslas
Super United Víctor Rodríguez Muñoz Mirzokhid Mamatkhonov Atsushi Yonezawa Eisuke Mohri
United Victory Kyrylo Silich Anatoliy Vlasichev Marat Ajiniyazov Ruslan Amirov

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Maziya 8 5 3 0 20 5 +15 18 Qualification for 2022 AFC Cup group stage
2 Da Grande 8 4 3 1 13 8 +5 15 Qualification for 2022 AFC Cup preliminary round 2
3 Valencia 8 3 3 2 10 5 +5 12
4 Green Streets 8 3 2 3 9 11 −2 11
5 TC Sports 8 2 3 3 8 10 −2 9
6 Super United 8 1 5 2 4 8 −4 8
7 Eagles 8 2 2 4 8 14 −6 8 Promotion/Relegation play-off
8 United Victory 8 0 3 5 8 19 −11 3 Relegation to Maldivian Second Division
Source: Dhivehi Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Goal difference; 6) Goals scored.

References
  1. "Season to start in December?". Mihaaru (in Divehi). Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  2. "New football season anticipated to start in December!". FAMaldives. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  3. Valencia makes a comeback to First Division Reejje.mv Published: Jan 15, 2020
  4. "Atoll teams slots to Premier League on hold". Mihaaru Sports (in Divehi). Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  5. "Maziya in talks with two local coaches to replace Sekulovski". Raajje.mv. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  6. "Nizambe selected as Maziya's head coach". Raajje.mv. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  7. "Naadhu appointed as SUS head coach". Fahuminet (in Divehi). Retrieved 2020-09-13.
  8. "Valencia appoints Aathy and ready to start preseason tomorrow". Mihaaru (in Divehi). Retrieved 2020-10-17.
  9. Shaany, Aishath (28 December 2020). "Maziya's head coach Nizam resigns". Raajje. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  10. "El ex del Betis Risto Vidakovic ficha por el Maziya de las Islas Maldivas". Diario de Sevilla (in Spanish). 4 January 2021. Archived from the original on 4 January 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
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