Football had always been a major sport in Afghanistan throughout the 20th century but died down during the decades of war that tore the country apart. Following the collapse of the Taliban in 2001, there was renewed desire among the people for sports entertainment.
The Afghanistan Football Federation was founded in 1922 and was admitted into FIFA in 1948.
The Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) stadium has been home to all Afghan football events, national and international, in the past 5 years. Prior to the construction of this stadium, a decent venue for sporting events was non-existent. Seeing the great demand for soccer in Afghanistan, the International Football Federation undertook an initiative called “Goal” to construct a football stadium in the capital, Kabul.
Work on the stadium started in 2008 and was completed in 2010. The stadium has gradually developed into a sports complex with the addition of a futsal gymnasium, beach football ground, as well as a dormitory for players. All these facilities are currently ready to use and the stadium itself has a capacity of 6000 spectators.
The AFF stadium has been standardized and approved by FIFA and the Asian Football Federation allowing Afghanistan to host international matches. In 2013, Afghanistan hosted Pakistan in an international friendly match in which thousands of fans poured into the stadium. Afghanistan was able to secure a 3-0 victory over their arch rivals.
The AFF stadium is all set to host the fourth season of Roshan Afghan Premier League starting on August 27th. Thousands of spectators from various provinces will be attending to show support to their favorite teams.
All of the group stage matches will start at 4:00 pm this season. The matches will broadcast live on TOLO TV, Lemar TV, Arman FM, and Arakozai FM. It will also be watchable on the RAPL YouTube page (www.youtube.com/afghanpremierleague).