A football club named in honour of Turkmenistan’s authoritarian leader has been crowned league champions in the isolated Central Asian country, after winning every one of their matches.
Turkmenistan has had three rulers since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, all of whom have maintained a cult of personality and imposed tight controls on civil liberties.
“Arkadag footballers have won the title of Turkmenistan champion for the first time,” the state-run Golden Age newspaper reported on Monday.
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The team was founded this year for former president Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and immediately entered the ex-Soviet country’s first division.
Arkadag FC won 20 out of 20 league matches, scoring 70 goals and conceding just 14 after signing the country’s best players. Altyn Asyr in second place are trailing by 30 points.
“This encourages us to win more victories, we will try to win the Turkmenistan Cup,” Didar Durdyev, an Arkadag striker told AFP on Tuesday.
He had said earlier this year that he joined the winning side because it was “impossible to refuse this promising offer”.
Gurbanguly handed power to his son in 2022 after ruling for nearly two decades. He enjoys immense privileges and holds the title “Hero-Protector” or Arkadag.
Arkadag is also a $5-billion “smart” city, built in honour of Berdymukhamedov and unveiled in June this year. Turkmenistan is number 141 on FIFA’s international rankings.
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