The Bangladeshi football league system contains two wide open national professional leagues, three

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

based semi-professional leagues and one age-level amateur league.

System by period

Semi-professional era (1948–2006)

The semi-professional Dhaka Football League, consisting of a

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

, Second Division and Third Division, was established in 1915 and officially recognized after the Partition of India in 1948. Reports from the The Pakistan Observer (now The Bangladesh Observer) also confirms the short presence of a Fourth Division from 1966 to 1969. The amateur, age-based Bangladesh Pioneer League was introduced in 1981 as the long-term fourth-tier, expanding the league system. In 1993, the Dhaka Premier Division League became the new top-tier, while the First Division (1993–2006) served as the second-tier, further expanding the system to five-tiers.

Professional era (2007–present)

In 2007, the

B.League The B.League is a men's professional basketball league in Japan. The league is operated by the Japan Professional Basketball League and was formed as a result of a merger between the National Basketball League that was operated by the FIBA-affi ...

was introduced as Bangladesh’s first professional national league, later renamed the Bangladesh League in 2009 and rebranded as the Bangladesh Premier League in 2012. The Premier Division and First Division merged to form the new second-tier, the Dhaka Senior Division League. The professional league allowed clubs outside Dhaka to participate and had no relegation until the 2009–10 season. Senior Division champions and runners-up earned promotion only if they met professional league licensing criteria. In 2009, the Bashundhara Club Cup Championship, a one-time tournament, saw its winners and runners-up qualify for the 2009–10 professional League. The introduction of the

Bangladesh Championship League Bangladesh Championship League (), simply known as the BCL and officially Bashundhara Group, ABG Bashundhara Bangladesh Championship League since 2023 for sponsorship reasons, is the second-tier professional association football, football league ...

in 2012 established a permanent promotion-relegation system, with relegated clubs from the 2010–11 season joining the second-tier professional national league.

Men's system

Qualification for cups

Domestic cups

The primary domestic cup competition in Bangladesh is the Federation Cup. The cup competition is currently only open to

Bangladesh Premier League Bangladesh Premier League (), also known as Dutch-Bangla Bank BPL for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in Bangladesh organised by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). It was formed in 2011 by the BCB, after the su ...

clubs and runs simultaneosuly with the league season. The winners of the tournament were previously given entry to the preliminary stages of the

AFC Cup The AFC Champions League Two (abbreviated as the ACL Two or ACL2) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. It is the second-tier competition of Asian club football, ranked below the AFC C ...

. The Independence Cup is mainly open to Premier League clubs, however, Services teams and

clubs are also eligible to participate given they receive permission from the

Bangladesh Football Federation Bangladesh Football Federation (, ''Bānglādesh fūṭbôl fēḍārēshôn'') is the governing body that administers the sport of association football in Bangladesh. It is in charge of running the country's men's and women's national teams, ...

(BFF).

Continental competition

As of the 2024–25 season, the

champions qualify for the 2025–26 AFC Challenge League preliminary stage. However, if the league champions are not able to attain AFC licensing, league runners-up or Federation Cup winners are elected to participate in AFC competitions.

Women's system

References

External links

Official website of BFF
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bangladeshi Football League System Football league systems in Asia