The Afghan Premier League was established in 2012 replacing the
Kabul Premier League, with the first season running through September and October of that year. 8 teams were concurrently established in 2012 to become the inaugural competitors. Players for the league were selected with the help of a
reality television talent show called
Maidan-e-sabz ("The Green Pitch"), helmed by Mukhtar Lashkari, star of
Tolo TV, Afghanistan's equivalent of
The Oprah Winfrey Show. The concept came from the
Afghanistan Football Federation and the Afghanistan-based
MOBY Group, which owns a number of TV channels and radio stations and is the largest media group in the country. MOBY Group channels will broadcast matches. Players were voted onto teams by a jury and by the television audience. The 34 provinces were grouped into eight larger zones. Eight teams of 18 players, one from every region, were formed. The process has given opportunities to minorities such as the
Hazara who were treated as a underclass. Many players and supporters had undergone considerable trauma for which the League serves as a form of therapy.
Shaheen Asmayee FC won a record 5 Afghan Premier League titles (
2013,
2014,
2016,
2017,
2020). They were the only team to have reached the Afghan Premier League final in eight consecutive seasons (2013–2020). The league was discontinued after 2020 and replaced with the
Afghanistan Champions League. ==Champions==