The highly anticipated draw for the upcoming Afghanistan Champions League (ACL) took place in Kabul on Monday afternoon, much to the delight of all those involved.

Twelve teams will participate in this exciting sporting event, which starts on Saturday, April 20 and runs through to May 23.

The Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF), Ariana Television Network (ATN) and league sponsor Victor Energy Drink hosted the draw for fixtures which was screened and streamed live by Ariana Television on Monday afternoon.

The event was held at Ariana Television studios and the draw was carried out by Ahmad Allah Waseq, the General Director of Physical Education and Sports for Afghanistan. Also in attendance was Mohammad Youssef Kargar, Chairman of the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF); Hafiz Ahmad Jan Zadran, Technical and Professional Deputy of the Directorate of Physical Education; Mohammad Tahir Rufi, Director of Afghanistan Football Federation’s technical staff; ATN’s Deputy Managing Director & Director Sales & Acquisitions, Lutfullah Stanikzai; club representatives; and various brand managers and public relations officers from Victor Energy Drink and the Pamir Group of Companies.

The third season of the ACL will be held at the Afghanistan Football Federation Stadium and the first match will see Abu Muslim Farah football team take on Sarsabz Yashler.

The match will start at 2:00pm on Saturday and will be broadcast live on Ariana Television. The second match of the day will get underway at 4:00pm and will see Sorkh Poshan Khafi take on Khurasan Faryab.

The tournament will run over 33 days, with a total of 66 games. Twelve teams will participate. The teams are:

Istiqlal Kabul FC
Khurasan Faryab FC
Sorkh Poshan Khafi
Abu Muslim Farah FC
Jawanan Wahedi FC
Khadim FC
Maiwand FC
Aino Mina FC
Mawj Sahil FC
Attack Energy FC
Adalat Farah FC
Sarsabz Yashlar FC

Tournament updates!

Football fans across the country can watch this space for news and updates on the upcoming tournament. Ariana News and Ariana Television will keep fans updated on all the latest developments on our digital platforms ahead of and during the tournament.

India’s Rohit Sharma hit an unbeaten 105 but his Mumbai Indians fell 20 runs short as they tried to chase down a big target set by holders Chennai Super Kings in a battle of IPL heavyweights on Sunday.

Set 207 for victory, five-time winners Mumbai finished on 186-6 even though Rohit raised his ton in 61 balls at his home in Wankhede Stadium.

Skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad and the in-form Shivam Dube powered Chennai, who won their fifth title last year, to 206-4.

Gaikwad hit 69 and Dube smashed an unbeaten 66 before warhorse M.S. Dhoni smashed three successive sixes in the 20th over to take Chennai past 200.

Dhoni came in to bat with four balls left and scored 20. He smashed Mumbai skipper Hardik Pandya for three sixes and finished with a two to end a 26-run over.

“Our young wicketkeeper scoring three sixes down the order helped a lot and I think that was the difference,” Gaikwad said of the 42-year-old Dhoni.

Sri Lanka quick Matheesha Pathirana then took four wickets to push Mumbai to their fourth loss of the season and Gaikwad said he bowled “exceptionally well and nailed those yorkers”.

The two teams are on contrasting runs after changes of guard this season.

Pandya replaced Rohit as Mumbai captain while Dhoni surprisingly handed over the Chennai leadership to Gaikwad.

Gaikwad had his fourth win as captain after he set the pace for his team with his 40-ball knock laced with five fours and five sixes.

He put on 90 runs with Dube before falling to Pandya, but Dube and then Dhoni’s cameo ensured Chennai finished strongly.

Mumbai started well with Rohit and Ishan Kishan putting on 70 runs for the first wicket before Pathirana hit back.

Pathirana, known “Baby Malinga” for his slinging action similar to former Sri Lankan quick Lasith Malinga, sent back Kishan and then Suryakumar Yadav, for his second duck this season, in the space of three balls.

He later dismissed Tilak Varma for 31 as Rohit attempted to keep up the charge in his 63-ball knock and his second IPL ton.

Pathirana was named man of the match and Pandya said the Sri Lankan “was the difference”.

Tushar Deshpande got Pandya out and the home crowd cheered in another sign of growing unpopularity of Mumbai’s choice of captain.

In the first match of the day, Phil Salt’s rapid 89 and three wickets for Mitchell Starc helped Kolkata Knight Riders race to a crushing eight-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants.

Starc’s 3-28 kept Lucknow down to 161-7 at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens, with the other Knight Riders’ bowlers putting in disciplined performances after their side elected to field first.

The Australian left-arm quick became the most expensive buy in IPL history after Kolkata shelled out $2.98 million for his services.

Opener Salt then steered the two-time IPL winners to their target in 15.4 overs for their fourth victory in five matches this season.

The English wicketkeeper-batsman put on 120 runs with skipper Shreyas Iyer, who made 38, smashing 14 fours and three sixes in his 47-ball knock. – AFP

With just days to go before the start of this year’s much anticipated Afghanistan Champions League (ACL), the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) will hold the draw for fixtures on Monday afternoon – which will be screened and streamed live and exclusively by Ariana Television Network.

The draw will start at 4pm Kabul time and will be live on Ariana Television and Ariana News.

The draw will also be streamed live on Ariana Sport’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Last week, Ariana Television Network (ATN) announced it will produce and broadcast the third season of the ACL live, legally and exclusively.

The contract signing ceremony was held on Sunday, April 7, between ATN, the AFF and the league sponsor Victor Energy Drink.

Matches will be played at the 5,000-seat Afghanistan Football Federation stadium in Kabul and the tournament will run over 33 days, with a total of 66 games played.

Twelve teams will participate in this exciting sports event, which will start on April 20 and run through to May 23. The teams are:

Istiqlal Kabul FC
Khurasan Faryab FC
Sorkh Poshan Khafi
Abu Muslim Farah FC
Jawanan Wahedi FC
Khadim FC
Maiwand FC
Aino Mina FC
Mawj Sahil FC
Attack Energy FC
Adalat Farah FC
Sarsabz Yashlar FC

Match details

Football fans across the country can watch this space for news and updates on the upcoming tournament as Ariana News and Ariana Television will post the latest information on its platforms ahead of and during the event.

For now, however, the links for Monday’s live show, which will determine the fixtures, are as follows:

Ariana Sport’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ATNSports/

Ariana Sport’s YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5UUICmInlYFsi8j9PpxVLw