A meeting of the Georgian Football Federation Executive committee took place on 3 August at the GFF headquarters. The meeting began with the committee approving the GFF disciplinary code. Afterwards, the Top Division and First Division calendars and regulations for the 2016 national championship season, as well as those for the Davit Kipiani Georgian Cup, were approved.
The ‘transitional season’ in the Top Division will start on 7 August, while the First Division clubs will start competing on 19 August. As for the Davit Kipiani Cup, the opening round will commence on 15 August.
The Executive Committee also approved the Second Division format. A total of 67 teams will be divided regionally into 8 groups. All eight group winners will directly qualify for next year’s National League One competition, while the 40 teams taking places 2-6 in each group will be eligible to compete in National League Two.
The format of the youth league championships was also approved during the meeting. The 16-team under-19 league will be split into two groups (east and west), and the teams finishing first and second in their respective groups will go on to contest semifinals and the final.
As for the under-17 and under-15 leagues, these will be divided into 3 groups of 7 teams. Group winners and runners-up will qualify directly for quarterfinals, and will be joined by the two best third-placed teams. The title will then be decided in the play-offs.
The Executive Committee also debated the issue of the Super Cup. It was decided to hold the next Super Cup game at the start of the 2017 regular season, and that from then on, the domestic season will always be opened by the Super Cup game, where the league champions will face the winners of the Davit Kipiani Georgian Cup. The GFF Executive Committee decided that should the league championship and cup titles be won by the same team, then the champions will contest the Super Cup with the league runners-up.