Sudan soccer league returns despite ongoing Civil War
The Sudan Football Association (SFA) has organised the eight-team Sudan Elite League, which will be played over the course of one month and which will determine the Sudanese clubs to compete in continental club competition for the 2025-26 season.
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Sudanese rivals Al Hilal and Al Merrikh — who have between them won 49 of the previous 53 league titles — have both been temporarily playing league football in Mauritania, in north west Africa, due to the unstable political situation in Sudan.
Last season, Al Hilal were CAF Champions League quarter-finalists and won Super D1, the top division of Mauritanian football, in 2024-25 with Al Merrikh finishing sixth.
However, this did not allow either club to qualify for continental competition, with second-place FC Nouadhibou qualifying for the CAF Champions League courtesy of them being the top ranking Mauritanian side.
The league started on Friday, July 4, with Al Hilal defeating Al Mirigani 2-0 while Al Merrikh beat Al Hali Madani 1-0.
The derby between Al Hilal and Al Merrikh is set for the last day of competition on July 22, with Hay Al Wadi, Al Zamala, Al Amal Atbara and Marikh Al Obeid the other competing clubs.
No matches are being staged in the capital Khartoum, which has been badly damaged by the civil war, with games instead being played at Atbara, 320km north of Khartoum, and Ad-Damer, 430km to the north east of the capital.
Sudan, a nation in north east Africa of over 48million people, has been wracked by civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since April 2023.
Precise casualty figures are difficult to establish, with more than 150,000 people killed and around 12 million others displaced.
Local media have reported over 500,000 children have died due to malnutrition. Widespread hunger, famine, and disease outbreaks have been reported to the United Nations Security Council.
In October 2024, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the Sudanese population were trapped in a 'nightmare of violence, hunger, disease and displacement' and said almost 25m people in the country were in need of humanitarian assistance.
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In November, Sudan secured qualification for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) despite the nation's ongoing civil war.
Sudan won AFCON when they hosted the tournament in 1970, but have advanced beyond the group stage of the competition only once and have qualified for just four of the most recent 25 editions of the tournament.
Morocco will host the next AFCON which is scheduled to begin on December 21, 2025 and run until January 18, 2026.
(Top image of Sudanese side Al Hilal: Mahmoud Hjaj/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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