Tuesday, 18 September 2012 20:44

The Roshan Afghan Premier League (APL) kicked off Tuesday afternoon with the south zone team De Maiwand Atalan facing the team from the country's capital, Shahin Asmayee.

The match, played in Kabul, began after an inaugural ceremony in the football ground, saw De Maiwand Atalan beat Shahin Asmayee by two goals with the final score at 3-1.

Hundreds of Afghan football fans turned out to watch the inaugural match.
Afghan Olympic Chief Mohammad Zaher Aghbar said that the new league will bring Afghans together and help establish unity across tribal and geographic divides.
"The Afghan Premier League will create friendship between different cross-sections of the country," Aghbar said.
FIFA instructor Ali Askar Lahli said that the league will bring another level of professionalism to Afghanistan's national football, as well as providing avenues for businesses to sponsor more sport.
"The first purpose of the APL is to professionalise football in the country. The second is to attract the attention of Afghan businessmen to support the football players," Lahli said.
Afghan football expert Abdul Hamid Mubarez also said that more needed to be done to fund sport, beginning with building more football fields.
"This a good programme that can help promote football all over the country, but the construction of more football fields would be more important," Mubarez said.
The next match will be played in Kabul between Mawjhai Amu and Oqaban Hindukush on Wednesday. It will be televised live through Lemar and Tolo TVs channel in Afghanistan.