FOOTBALL officials last week announced during a press conference at Sedona Hotel in Yangon on August 6 that the Myanmar National League Competition 2009 will kick off on September 5 and will run until January 17.
The tournament will be split into two periods that will run from September 5 until November 12, and then from December 25 to January 17. Each half of the competition will include 28 matches.
The mid season break will allow members of the national team to practice intensively for the Laos Sea Games.
“The tournament’s structure is not a home and away system and is another preparation for the actual start of the Myanmar National League (MNL), which will start in 2010,” said U Zaw Zaw, the Myanmar Football Federation’s (MFF) chairman, at the press conference.
Ticket prices for have been set at K500 for ordinary seats and K2000 for special class. Prize money for the winning teams remains unchanged at K50 million, K30 million and K20 million for the winner, runner-up and third-placed team.
The upcoming competition will also include matches at Mandalay’s Ba Htoo Stadium and while the MFF does not have any special travel program set up to allow Yangon fans to easily attend the matches, U Tay Za, Yangon United FC’s owner said he plans to have buses and carriages available for his club’s fans to travel to matches free of charge.
During the conference U Zaw Zaw explained the future aims of the MFF.
“We aim to take part in the Asian Champion League (ACL) in the near future. To do so, we will need to obey all 78 criteria and must prepare for that.
“Those criteria state that our domestic competition must be expanded to 12 clubs by 2012 and that tickets must not be given away free of charge. There are also guidelines covering business plans, administration, game operation, marketing and many other matters,” he said.
MFF has hired a FIFA marketing officer, Stuart Ramalingam, as a marketing consultant to promote the MNL.
U Zaw Zaw said another pressing matter is getting the league’s coaches up to international standards.
“The clubs’ head coaches must be FIFA A-class license holders. But some head coaches like U Myo Hlaing Win from Yangon United FC, U San Win from Delta United FC and U Kyi Lwin from Mgway FC do not hold these licenses and urgently need to earn them.”
