All seven football clubs from the Bhutan Premier League 2020 will feature in the Bhutan Super League this year. The league will commence in May. This is to give all football clubs equal game time and help support their club players. Earlier only five teams relegated from the country’s top division league featured in the Bhutan Super League.
The Bhutan Football Federation (BFF) was unable to conduct the annual Jigme Dorji Wangchuck Memorial Gold Cup and Samtse Championship last year due to the pandemic. This has further minimised the number of games for top clubs of the Bhutan Premier League this year. Aware of the situation, the BFF decided to let all clubs from the Bhutan Premier League excluding Druk Stars FC to feature in the upcoming Bhutan Super League.
“We have certain changes in the tournament format this year. We have been doing a lot of assessment and clubs from the top division league has been complaining to us that they are not getting enough matches in a year. A BPL club in a year only gets to play for only three months and that is not enough for the sustainability of a club and its players,” said Phuntsho Wangdi, the Head of Commercial and Communication with the BFF.
But first, the BFF in collaboration with the five registered districts will conduct the Dzongkhag League in their respective districts starting this month. Winners of the respective Dzongkhag League will automatically qualify for the Bhutan Super League.
“This year, Sarpang Dzongkhag is coming in as the new Dzongkhag to conduct the Dzongkhag league along with Punakha, Paro, Chhukha and Thimphu. The Dzongkhag leagues are starting at very different times and dates in five different districts. Paro Dzongkhag is starting their league from the mid of March. Likewise, Punakha, Phuentshogling, and Sarpang Dzongkhag will also start their leagues this month. For Thimphu Dzongkhag we will start from 10th April onwards,” he added.
The change in the system means that the Bhutan Super League this year will have 12 teams participating. Like always, Bhutan Super League will be a centralised programme held in Thimphu. However, the competition will be played in a double round format whereby all teams will get to play against each other twice.
Passang Dorji
