2023 Cambodian League Cup Announced

The Cambodian Premier League (CPL) have announced the return of the controversial League Cup for 2023, including format, schedule and eligibility.

First introduced in 2022 during a break in fixtures the 2023 competition is slated to take place during the extended pre-season related to the league moving from a calendar year season into a 2023/24 one, in line with Europe and other major Asian leagues.

2023 Cambodian League Cup format 

Once again it will involve 16 tams with 8 from CPL 1 and 8 from the second division. There will then be 4 groups of 4 consisting of 2 clubs from each division. The top two clubs will then go into the knockout phases which will end with a League Cup final.

Participation wise all 8 CPL 1 sides have to compete, while the 8 from the second division are being asked to “apply”.

Quite how many and indeed if the desired amount apply to take part is yet to be seen, with most clubs particularly in the lower echelons of the league losing money on the 2022 tournament. A situation unlikely to change without a sponsor and prize money to give clubs.

There is also the small matter of who will actually take part in the 2023/24 CPL 2 withnumber of teams and who will be granted a license as of yet unconfirmed.

How many players can be registered?

Photo: CPL (2022 Cambodian Premier League Cup Groups)

Each club can register up to 35 players, 5 of whom can be foreign, with the same requirements for Under 22 players remaining in place. Unlike previous seasons all 5 foreign players can be part of the match day squad, although only 4 can be on the pitch at once.

To read our piece on removing the foreign player quotas click here

One of the big problems is that many clubs, such as Angkor Tiger among others barely have eleven players, opting to reduce costs during the extended off-season.

It was not though all doom and gloom with many clubs relishing the chance for players to get some match time, with Conor Nestor of Svay Rieng stating “The completion is far from perfect, but will at least give us the chance to give players some match time in what would otherwise have been 6 months of pre-season”.

When will the 2023 Cambodian League Cup commence

The official start is  scheduled for February 14th 2023, with the final being held sometime in late March in time for pre-season.

Interestingly the winner of the cup will also be the unofficial 2023 Cambodian “Champions”” due to the change in season format meaning the next CPL winners will not be crowned until 2024.

You can check out the CPL Facebook page here.

Original article courtesy of Cambodia Sports Review