Arkadag FC all-conquering in a bizarre football season in Turkmenistan
Al Jazeera
The new club, a project of the former president, won all its matches en route to claiming Turkmenistan’s title.
There is a new power in Central Asian football and, a year ago, it did not even exist.
Turkmenistan’s Arkadag FC kicked their first-ever ball in a competitive game just in April with a 2-1 win over Merw in the country’s top division. They then strolled to the league title by winning every match in the 24-game league season.
By the end, the champions of the nine-team league scored 83 goals and conceded only 17.
It is perhaps not that surprising that this completely new club has immediately become dominant at home.
They are one of the projects started by former president Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, who was known to the nation of six million as “Arkadag” – a nickname which translates to “Hero Protector”. The ruler, who took power in 2006, handed the reins of state to his son Serdar Berdymukhamedov in 2022 but is still very much on the political scene.
