The 5th season of the Roshan Afghan Premier League (RAPL) will kick-off on Thursday at the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) stadium in Kabul.

The opening ceremony will include RAPL 2016's new theme song and will be performed by three contestants from this year's Afghan Stars, Ziba Hamid, Rashid Aria and Ashkan Arab.

The ceremony will start at 3:00pm local time and fans will wear the colors of the country's flag, 12 young singers from Afghan Stars will also sing the National Anthem and many more surprises are in store for fans in the stadium.

"In the past four seasons we have witnessed the presence of new players in the national team of different age-ranges from Roshan Afghanistan Premier League (RAPL). We could select Afghan players who have the membership of national team from the premier league," said Keramuddin Karim, President of AFF.

"The league facilitates the selection of players for the national team. We also could select elite players from Roshan Afghanistan Premier League for national teams of 19 years, 21 years, and 23 years. The performance of these players is remarkable in national teams," ‎he added.

After the ceremony, the tournament will continue with the opening match between the winner of the 4th Season and the Eastern Zone's team, De Spinghar Bazan, against Simorgh Alborz representing the Northern Zone of the country, according to RAPL officials.

"At Roshan, we are strong believers of supporting sport. Playing sport is about team work and at Roshan Afghan Premier League (RAPL) games, young Afghans of all backgrounds get to work together and grow stronger together. Our support for RAPL has already allowed young Afghans an opportunity to shine and represent their country on the world stage, bringing pride to all Afghans." said Karim Khoja, CEO of Roshan.

"The aim of holding the Afghan Premier League is for a healthy show for young Afghan and for the gathering of Afghanistan's young and the slogan of the Afghan Premier League is one nation one voice," Kargar said at a press conference on Tuesday.

"RAPL successfully conducted four seasons in close cooperation with its partners over the past four years despite the existing challenges in this country," Shafic Gawhari, CEO of Moby Group Afghanistan and RAPL's Commissioner.

"We are strongly committed to continuing the first professional football league which now has become a symbol of optimism and national unity for Afghanistan and everyone is waiting for the main tournament by August of each year," he said.

The ceremony and all football matches will be broadcast live on TOLO TV, Lemar TV and Arman FM, Arakozia FM as well as online via the RAPL Official YouTube Channel and website.

57% of Afghans in the country (at least 18.6 million viewers) as well as Afghans around the world (via YouTube) watched the 2015 Championship match between De Spinghar Bazan and Shaheen Asmayee (KAL – 2015 survey).

To watch the report, click here: