Another Chaotic Season Comes to an End

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Another season, another controversy. The 2024/2025 season has finally concluded in Mongolia following a long delay and strong protest from clubs. After beginning the second half of the season, all Premier League and First League activity halted following a coordinated protest from clubs. The stakeholders expressed perceived "incompetence" by the MFF organizing and executive committees in a statement dated 23 April.

In addition to incompetency, players and other stakeholders are citing irregularities in the election of President Ts. Anandbazar on his election on 24 April and embezzlement of funds by the board. Ts. Anandbazar has been accused of rape and sexually assaulting several members of the girls under-18 team when he was team manager in 2021. Several female footballers have quit the sport because of the event. In solidarity to women's football, all eight clubs who were set to compete in the Women's National Football League refused to play the 2025 season which has been subsequently cancelled.

Another statement was issued by the Players Association on 28 April announced that the clubs did not accept the results delivered by the MFF at its April 2025 meeting and that they would continue to boycott the leagues. The clubs reiterated that they did not accept Ts. Anandbazar as the federation's president.

On 5 June, after more than a month of delay, it was announced that league play would resume the following day. At the MFF General Meeting on 29 May, clubs determined that enough progress had been made to address their concerns to re-start the leagues, excluding the Women's League.

Premier League

SP Falcons secured its second consecutive title with a 12-1 victory over Khangarid on 10 July with two matches remaining. Khangarid FC and FC Ulaanbaatar earned the silver and bronze medals, respectively. Khangarid will join SP Falcons in qualifying for the 2025/26 AFC Challenge League.

After kicking off on 16 August 2024, the season was scheduled to conclude on 19 July 2025. Despite the long hiatus, the league finished on time without eliminating matches.

Despite big ambitions and high-profile signings, Brera Ilch finished at the bottom of the table and will play in the First League next season. Tuv Arzarganuud pulled off the unthinkable and earned 9th place and a spot in the relegation Play-off. The club seemed destined for automatic relegation following the first half of the season in which the club did not earn a single point in its first nine matches.

Tuv Arzarganuud and Brera Ilch faced each other on the final matchday with the Stallions earning a 4-1 victory. Had Ilch been victorious, the club would have found itself in the play-off with Tuv Arzarganuud automatically relegated. Tuv Arzarganuud will now face the runners-up of the First League on 4 August and 7 August to determine its fate for next season.

MPL Season Awards

Best Referee:

Bold Kash-Erdene

Fair Play Award:

Brera Ilch FC

Fewest red and yellow cards during the season

Best Goalkeepers:

H. Tsenguun (SP Falcons)

P. Bayartsengel (Khangarid FC)

Best Midfielder:

Alcon Andre Ferreira (SP Falcons)

11 goals, 12 assists

Top Scorer:

Myagmar Batkishig (SP Falcons)

32 goals

First League

The 2024/2025 First League kicked off with a record sixteen clubs as the field also included teams from the Second League which was not organized this year. The MFF has dissolved the league and it will not be organized moving forward. After playing eight matches, Selenge FC withdrew from the league reducing the field to fifteen for the second half of the season.

Following the First Round, the top eight teams in the league entered a seven-match playoff round in which each club faced the others an additional time.

First Round Table

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Play-off Round Table

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There was a lot of movement in the table between the ends of the First and Play-off Rounds. Ultimately, Khovd Western, who sat in 5th place at the end of the first fourteen matches, jumped to the top of the table. Ulaangom City improved from third position to second to win the silver medal with just a single point separating the club from Khovd Western. A single point also separated third and fourth positions, with a tiebreaker used to determine who would earn the bronze medal. Despite a far superior goal difference, Irvesuud FC edged out Darkhan City with a win and a draw in head-to-head matches.

Ulaangom City will now face Tuv Azarganuud in the promotion/relegation matches on 3 and 7 August. It has yet to be determined if any clubs will be relegated from the First League this season following the dissolution of the Second League. If the traditional format stands, WARD FC will definitely take the drop while Ulaanbaatar Mazaalaynuud could find itself in a play-off series of its own, presumably trying to avoid a return to the Amateur Cup.

There are many questions surrounding the league system, particularly the First League, because of other events that took place at the Mongolian Football Federation at the end of the First Round. An outside organization had been hired to organize and promote the league, but when clubs grew extremely dissatisfied with how things were being run, they axed the company and took on the responsibility of organizing the play-off round themselves.

Mongolian clubs are sure to be taking a collective sigh of relief to have made it through another tumultuous season. With the top divisions typically kicking off in October, the MFF has a little more than two months to reorganize and make the necessary changes to avoid a similar disaster for the 2025/26 season.

First League Season Awards

Best Goalkeeper:

B. Bumbayar (Khovd Western)

Best Defender:

M. Kishignam (Ulaangom City)

Best Midfielder:

J. Sundorj (Darkhan City)

Tallied 15 goals and 17 assists

Top Scorers:

B. Tugsbileg (Darkhan City)

B. Enkh-Amgalan (DMU FC)

22 goals each

Promotion/Relegation Play-Offs

Tuv Azarganuud, second-to-last club in the Premier League, and First Division number two Ulaangom City played a two-leg playoff series to determine the league in which each club would compete in 2025/26. Tuv Azarganuud demolished Ulaangom City 9-0 in the first match of the series, creating a huge hole for Ulaangom to climb out of in the second leg.

Match 1

4 August 2025

Tuv Azarganuud 9 Ulaangom City FC 0

Match 2

7 August 2025

Ulaangom City FC 0 vs. Tuv Azarganuud 6

Tuv Azarganuud wins the series 15-0 on aggregate and will remain in the Premier League next season. Ulaangom City will return to the First League and take another try at promotion.