Twenty clubs will compete in the Youth Championship: 16 youth teams of RPL clubs, and four teams that took part in the 2019/20 Youth Football League.

In the first part of the tournament, teams will be divided into two geographical groups of 10 teams and will play each other twice. In the final part, the top five teams from Group A will play the top five from Group B twice, and likewise for the bottom five teams from each group. In total, the tournament will consist of 28 matchdays (280 matches).

Non-foreign players born no later than 1 January 2002 will be able to participate in the 2020/21 Youth Championship. Squads have a limit of five players per season (no more than three per matchday squad) who were born no later than 1 January 2001.

Clubs can also submit two "jokers" - players with no age or citizenship restrictions - in matchday squads.

Youth Championship fixtures will not be linked to senior RPL matches. The tournament calendar will be published later.