The Dhivehi Premier League, known as the MWSC Dhivehi Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a Maldivian men's professional football league. At the top of the Maldives football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 8 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Second Division Football Tournament.
| Founded | 22 December 2014 |
|---|---|
| Country | Maldives |
| Confederation | AFC |
| Number of teams | 8 |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| Relegation to | Second Division |
| Domestic cup(s) | FA Cup President's Cup Charity Shield |
| International cup(s) | AFC Challenge League |
| Current champions | Maziya (5th title) (2023) |
| Most championships | Maziya (5 titles) |
| TV partners | Television Maldives (live matches) |
| Current: 2024 Dhivehi Premier League | |
Teams are playing 21 match each, totalling 168 matches in the season. The Dhivehi Premier League succeeded the Dhivehi League. Currently all eight teams are based at the National Football Stadium.
History
edit| Season | Champions | Runners-up | Topscorers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | New Radiant | TC Sports Club |  Assadhulla Abdulla (9 goals)
|
| 2016 | Maziya | TC Sports Club | Ali Fasir (29 goals)
|
| 2017 | New Radiant | TC Sports Club | Ali Ashfaq (13 goals)
|
| 2018 | TC Sports Club | Maziya | Ahmed Rizuvan (31 goals)
|
| 2019–20 | Maziya | Eagles | Ahmed Rizuvan (28 goals)
|
| 2020–21 | Maziya | Valencia |  Cornelius Stewart (10 goals)
|
| 2022 | Maziya | Eagles |  Tana (18 goals)
|
| 2023 | Maziya | Eagles | Ahmed Rizuvan (23 goals)
|
Competition format
editCompetition
editThere are 8 clubs in the Premier League. During the course of a season each club plays the others thrice (a double round-robin system), for a total of 21 games. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, then goal difference, and then goals scored. If still equal, teams are deemed to occupy the same position. If there is a tie for the championship, for relegation, or for qualification to other competitions, a play-off match decides rank.
Qualification for Asian competitions
editOnly one team, the league winners, qualify for the AFC Challenge League playoffs. The team must win play-off to get to the group stage.
Sponsorship
edit| Period | Sponsor | Brand |
|---|---|---|
| 2015–2018 | Ooredoo Maldives | Ooredoo Dhivehi Premier League |
| 2019-20–2020-21 | Dhiraagu | Dhiraagu Dhivehi Premier League |
| 2022 | Ooredoo Maldives | Ooredoo Dhivehi Premier League |
| 2023- | MWSC | MWSC Dhivehi Premier League |
Finances
editThe Football Association of Maldives (FAM) provides each Premier League team with an amount of MVR 1.6 million. The Champion team also receives a MVR 1 million cash prize.[citation needed][1]
Current Dhivehi Premier League teams
editAll-time Dhivehi Premier League table
editThe all-time Dhivehi Premier League table is a cumulative record of all match results, points and goals of every team that has played in the Premier League since its inception in 2015. The table that follows is accurate as of the end of the 2022 season.[2] Teams in bold are part of the 2023 Premier League.
| Pos. | Club | Seasons | Pld | Win | Draw | Loss | GF | GA | GD | Pts | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Relegated | Best Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maziya | 8 | 121 | 86 | 20 | 15 | 348 | 95 | +253 | 278 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1st | |
| 2 | TC Sports Club | 8 | 121 | 67 | 23 | 31 | 237 | 133 | +104 | 224 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1st | ||
| 3 | Club Eagles | 7 | 107 | 60 | 28 | 19 | 218 | 110 | +108 | 208 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2nd | ||
| 4 | New Radiant | 4 | 65 | 37 | 12 | 16 | 132 | 69 | +63 | 123 | 2 | 1 | 1[a] | 1st | ||
| 5 | Green Streets | 6 | 86 | 35 | 15 | 36 | 139 | 149 | −10 | 120 | 1 | 1 | 3rd | |||
| 6 | Victory | 4 | 67 | 12 | 10 | 45 | 56 | 153 | −97 | 43[b] | 1 | 5th | ||||
| 7 | Valencia | 5 | 70 | 27 | 12 | 31 | 98 | 104 | −6 | 93 | 1 | 2nd | ||||
| 8 | United Victory | 5 | 72 | 19 | 20 | 33 | 90 | 131 | −41 | 77 | 1 | 4th | ||||
| 9 | Foakaidhoo | 2 | 37 | 8 | 8 | 21 | 36 | 84 | −48 | 32 | 6th | |||||
| 10 | BG Sports Club | 2 | 35 | 6 | 12 | 17 | 33 | 56 | −23 | 30 | 1 | 7th | ||||
| 11 | Da Grande | 3 | 56 | 12 | 12 | 32 | 66 | 107 | −41 | 48 | 1 | 5th | ||||
| 12 | Super United Sports | 3 | 35 | 7 | 9 | 19 | 31 | 66 | −35 | 30 | 6th | |||||
| 13 | Nilandhoo SC | 2 | 32 | 8 | 3 | 21 | 44 | 114 | −70 | 27 | 6th | |||||
| 14 | G. Dh. Thinadhoo | 1 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 23 | 18 | +5 | 18 | 1 | 4th | ||||
| 15 | Sh. Milandhoo | 1 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 18 | 26 | −8 | 14 | 6th | |||||
| 16 | A. A. Maalhos | 1 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 18 | 40 | −22 | 9 | 7th | |||||
| 17 | B. Fehendhoo | 1 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 30 | −28 | 4 | 1 | 9th | ||||
| 18 | Dh. Kudahuvadhoo | 1 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 6 | 40 | −34 | 3 | 8th | |||||
| 19 | Mahibadhoo | 1 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 12 | 47 | −35 | 2 | 1 | 8th | ||||
| 20 | Th. Thimarafushi | 1 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 37 | −35 | 1 | 1 | 10th | ||||
| 21 | Buru Sports Club | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
- Notes
- ^ New Radiant were suspended from all football related activities before 2019–20 Dhivehi Premier League started, due to unpaid wages to the players and failing to pay fines to FIFA and FAM, resulting to relegation[3]
- ^ Victory was docked 3 points for failing to pay over players' wages during 2018 Dhivehi Premier League[4]
References
edit- ^ "FAM introduces season tickets". Maldivesoccer. April 2015. Archived from the original on 6 July 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
- ^ "Dhivehi Premier League 2021/2022 Standings - Football/Maldives". www.flashscore.com. Archived from the original on 15 April 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
- ^ "Valencia makes a comeback to First Division". Raajje Mv. 15 January 2020. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
- ^ "މުސާރަ މައްސަލައެއްގައި ފީފާއިން ވިކްޓަރީގެ ޕޮއިންޓް އުނިކޮށްފި" (in Divehi). FIGC. 21 February 2019. Archived from the original on 10 September 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
External links
edit- Ooredoo Dhivehi Premier League (2016 MD3-2017) at Mihaaru. Archived 18 March 2020 at the Wayback Machine