Season: | 2020–21 |
Dates: | 13 December 2020 – 2 May 2021 |
Winners: | Maziya |
Relegated: | no relegation |
Competition: | Dhivehi Premier League |
Continentalcup1: | AFC Cup |
Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Maziya Valencia |
Matches: | 56 |
Total Goals: | 140 |
League Topscorer: | Cornelius Stewart (11 goals) |
Prevseason: | 2019–20 |
Nextseason: | 2022 |
The 2020–21 Dhivehi Premier League is the sixth 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]
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]
Note: Table lists clubs in alphabetical order.
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 | Rilwan Waheed | Captain Maldives | ||||||
Valencia | Mohamed Athif | Ali Ashfaq | Jerzia | |||||
Da Grande | Ismail Mahfooz | Yasfaadh Habeeb | Malhi MV | |||||
Maziya | Risto Vidaković | Asadhulla Abdulla | SE - Sports Emporium | Ooredoo Maldives | ||||
TC Sports | Mohamed Shazly | Mohamed Azzam | ||||||
Super United | Ahmed Nashid | Ahmed Farhan | SE - Sports Emporium | Fathaha Mall (main) Heena Mobiles | SJ Group (top) Maldives Wave (bottom) | Albion Store | LITUS | |
United Victory | Ihsan Abdul Ghanee (interim) | Mohamed Arif | Jerzia |
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 |
Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Asian Player | Former Players | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Club Eagles | Osama Elshihy | Elsayed Mahmoud | Mohammad Taha | Ismaël Yanogo Milan Jelovac Osama Anbar | ||
Green Streets | Khalil Elbezawy | Angel Carrasco Muñoz | Mahmoud Sayed | Saqib Hanif | Elsayed Mahmoud | |
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 |