The 2020 Hun Sen Cup is the 14th season of the Hun Sen Cup, the premier football knockout tournament in Cambodia, for association football clubs in Cambodia involving Cambodian League and provincial teams organized by the Football Federation of Cambodia. Beoung Ket won the cup after beating Svay Rieng 5-4 on Penalty in the 2019 final. It was Beoung Ket's first time winning the cup. The competition is split into 2 stages with the first being the provincial stage before the national stage sees the 2020 C-League teams enter the competition.
The provincial stage started in February 2020.[1][2]
Format
Provincial stage
The provincial stage started in February 2020 and was contested between 17 teams across 5 groups. All of the 17 teams across represent their respective province, not just the city that the team plays in.
Group stage: 17 teams are split into 5 groups (2 groups of 4 and 3 groups of 3). The group winners and the 3 best runners-up (does not count the matches vs 4th-placed team in group A and E) qualified for the knockout stage.
Provincial Knockout Stage: 8 teams play in a single-elimination home & away matches, except the single-leg third-place playoff and final match. Top 4 teams will qualify for National Stage.
National Stage
The National Stage sees the 12 2020 C-League teams (except Bati Youth Football Academy) enter the competition, along with the top 4 teams in the provincial stage. 16 teams play in a single-elimination home & away matches, except the single-leg semi-finals, third-place playoff and final match. The winners will qualify for 2021 AFC Cup qualifying playoff stage.
Tbong Khmum FC head coach, Phorn Raksmey Pich complained Prey Veng FC for using Visakha FC academy in the whole squad in provincial stage in an interview with BTV. He stated that "We (Tbong Khmum FC) already won the provincial stage because Prey Veng FC is not provincial team, they are Visakha FC academy!". His statement gained support by other provincial teams fans on social media.
References
^"Hun Sen Cup 2019 ៖ ៣ គូ ត្រូវ ប្រកួត មុនគេ ក្នុង វគ្គ ជម្រុះ ១៦ ក្រុម ចុងក្រោយ ថ្នាក់ ខេត្ត នៅ ថ្ងៃ អង្គារ នេះ | Kampuchea Thmey". Archived from the original on 2019-10-30. Retrieved 2020-02-05.
^"Hun Sen Cup ៖ ជើងឯក ថ្នាក់ ខេត្ត នឹង រក ឃើញ ក្រុម ឡើង ទៅ វគ្គ ផ្តាច់ព្រ័ត្រ នៅ ល្ងាច ថ្ងៃ ពុធ នេះ | Kampuchea Thmey". Archived from the original on 2019-06-02. Retrieved 2020-02-05.
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