Maziya Sports and Recreation Club has said that their main target this year will be to represent the country in the AFC Cup group stage starting in September and to produce a good result.

Maziya has been dominating domestic football in the country for years now, but the club is yet to do its best in the AFC Cup. The tournament saw some competitive matches by the club, and although they competed close to major regional clubs, they are yet to cross the group stage.

While Maziya's new coach was announced on Thursday, the two sides mutually agreed on the termination of the contract with coach Ivan Vankov Kolev, who started the season with the club, at the end of last month.

Speaking at a press conference to announce the new coach, the club's media official and board member Hassan Shifan said that Maziya is always out to represent the country in the AFC Cup and cooperation is always needed.

"As our coach also pointed out, we are not going into the AFC Cup just to represent Maziya. We represent the country. In the current AFC Cup format, there will be more competition from the SAFF countries in the group stage. The goal has always been to do well for the country in the AFC Cup. The government is also supporting the same," Shifan said.

Maziya has been playing in the group stage of the AFC Cup every year and the club has also been provided year-on-year financial assistance by the Youth Ministry. Before the start of the season, some clubs had flagged it as an issue. The issue has been taken up by some clubs, especially in the last few months, as other clubs have been facing financial problems.

Maziya said the club has always been grateful for the financial support of the government and there were some difficulties due to non-collection of financial funds this time.

Maziya Chairman Ahmed Sajid said that Maziya has always been aiming at the development of local football and it cannot be done alone.

Maziya is one of the strongest clubs in the country in recent times. The club's players are being paid handsomely, but only two or three clubs are doing so in the current state of Maldivian football.