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.
One of his biggest legacies is the construction of a smart city, which cost about $5bn, also called Arkadag, based in the south of the country near the capital, Ashgabat. It was quickly decided that the 70,000 or so residents of this modern metropolis needed a new club.
Berdymukhamedov senior was not just involved in the naming of the team but also designed the logo, which is that of a horse, a recurring image in the president’s tenure during which he was often portrayed on horseback.
Ahead of the 2023 season, this new club moved into the transfer market and signed most of the country’s top players such as national team captain Arslanmyrat Amanov and star striker Altymyrat Annadurdyyew. In a recent squad named for World Cup qualification, 14 of the 26 selected were Arkadag players.
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