Argentine football league system

The Argentine football league system include tournaments organised by the Argentine Football Association. Clubs affiliated to the body compete in the tournaments, which are split into categories or divisions.

Rules establish a system of promotion and relegation, a process where teams are transferred between two divisions based on their performance for the completed season. The best-ranked team or teams in the lower division are promoted to the higher division for the next season, and the worst-ranked team or teams in the higher division are relegated to the lower division for the next season.[1]

History

Tournaments organised by the Association and its predecessors have been held since 1893 (the year when the current AFA was established). Nevertheless, the first championship was organised by the Argentine Association Football League in 1891. The body dissolved that same year but the current association included the 1891 in its list of championships.

Only clubs directly affiliated to AFA had taken part of the tournaments organised by the body, until the creation of Primera B Nacional in 1986 when teams from regional leagues added to the competition.

The following chart details all league competitions organised by the Argentine Association (National cups are not included):

Argentine football league system historical table
Division Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
Primera División 1891–Present
Intermedia 1911-1926 1927-1932
Primera B [lower-alpha 1] 1899-1910
1927-1985
1911-1926
1986–present
Primera B Nacional 1986–present
Primera C 1900-1910
1927-1985
1911-1926
1986–present
Primera D 1950-1985 1986–present
Argentino A 1995-2014
Federal A 2015–present
Argentino B 1995-2014
Federal B 2015–present
Argentino C 1995-2014
Federal C 2015–present

  Defunct tournaments

Current system (2016–17)

The following chart details the current competitions organised by the Argentine Association:

Argentine football league system (2016–17)
Level Divisions
1st Primera División
30 clubs
2nd Primera B Nacional
23 clubs
3rd Primera B Metropolitana
19 clubs
Torneo Federal A
36 clubs
4th Primera C
20 clubs
Torneo Federal B
129 teams
5th Primera D
16 clubs
Torneo Federal C
269 clubs
6th+ (Disaffiliation for one season) Regional leagues

Below the second division championship (Primera B Nacional) tournaments leagues are split between two groups, the first of them include the promotion/relegation system for clubs directly affiliated to the Association playing in Primera B Metropolitana, Primera C and Primera D. Those are usually called "zona metropolitana" (metropolitan zone) due to those tournaments have been historically played by teams from the city of Buenos Aires and Greater Buenos Aires, plus the addition of some clubs from Rosario, Santa Fe, La Plata and other cities of Buenos Aires Province.

The second group is formed clubs not directly affiliated to AFA that play in regional leagues, under the supervision of "Consejo Federal de Fútbol", dependent on the AFA. Competitions reserved for those clubs are Torneo Federal A, Torneo Federal B and Torneo Federal C.

Notes

  1. Established under the name "Segunda División", it was renamed "Primera División B" since 1949 edition. In 1986, with the restructuring of the entire league system, the division changed to "Primera B Metropolitana", also becoming the 3rd. level.

References

  1. Asociación del Fútbol Argentino – Reglamento General, Certámenes Oficiales (arts. 98-100). Retrieved 2016-01-20

External links

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