The Bangladesh professional football league committee yesterday decided to start the season-closing Independence Cup from January 16, with the participation of 12 premier league clubs.

The clubs will have to play the tournament with their local players like the two previous editions. The 12 teams, split into four groups, will play the group stage in round-robin format.

The meeting also decided to hold an age-group tournament (U-18) of the 12 premier league clubs in the last week of March.