 The bronze-medal winner of Virsliga, the 1996 Turkmenistan President’s Cup finalist Skonto Rīga and the bronze-medal winner of the championships of Armenia FC Gandzasar Kapan competed in the tournament for the second time.The defending Turkmenistan President’s Cup winner HTTU Aşgabat– for the fourth time, a finalist of the 2007 and 2008 international tournaments FC Aşgabat made the third attempt to win the prize.The teams were split in two groups