The Arkadag football club has defended its title as the champion of Turkmenistan. The team, representing the city of state significance with the same name, achieved this success ahead of schedule, five rounds before the end of the national championship, by defeating Balkanabat's Nebitchi 5-1 in a rescheduled match of the 28th round.

FC Arkadag, forming the core of Turkmenistan's national team, was established in 2023 and achieved a double in its debut year by winning both the championship and the national cup. Remarkably, since its inception, the team has not lost a single point in official national championship matches and has become Turkmenistan's champion for the second time. This success was led by 44-year-old Vladimir Bayramov, a former prominent striker of Turkmenistan's national team and winner of Cup of Russia 2003/04 with Grozny's Terek and AFC President's Cup 2013 with Balkan.

Altyn asyr and Ahal tied for second and third places with 52 points after 23 games, are competing for silver medals.

The Arkadag team is now preparing for the international tournament. As is known, the opponents of the champion of Turkmenistan in the AFC Challenge League™ will be Maziya from Maldives, FC Abdysh-Ata of Kyrgyz Republic and Al Arabi SC of Kuwait. Group B matches will be held centrally in Kuwait from October 26 to November 1.

The Turkmen Sporty newspaper