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 (the first organised body in the country) in 1891.[2][3] Although the AAFL was dissolved that same year, AFA has recognised that championship as the first Primera División competition, adding it to its continuity.[4]

Only clubs directly affiliated to AFA had taken part in tournaments organised by the body, until the creation of Nacional B Championship 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 (1891–present)
Division Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6
Primera División1891–present
Intermedia1911–19261927–1932
Primera B [note 1]1899–1910
1927–1985		1911–1926
1986–present
Torneo Regional1967–1985
Nacional B / Primera B Nacional / Primera Nacional1986–present
Primera C1900–1910
1927–1985		1911–1926
1986–present
Primera D1950–19851986–present
Torneo del Interior1986–1995
Torneo Argentino A1995–2014
Torneo Federal A2014–present
Torneo Argentino B1995–2014
Torneo Federal B2014–2017
Torneo Argentino C2005–2014
Torneo Federal C2015–2018
Torneo Regional Federal [note 2]2018–present
Regional Leagues1967–19851986–19951995–2005
2018–present		2005-2018
  Defunct tournaments

Current league system (2019–20)

Below the second division championship (Primera 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, 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 twenty clubs from the cities 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 del Fútbol Argentino", dependent on the AFA. Competitions reserved for those clubs are Torneo Federal A and Torneo Regional Federal.

Argentine football league system (2019–20)
LevelDivisions
Clubs directly and indirectly affiliated to AFA
1Primera División
2Primera Nacional
Clubs directly affiliated to AFA Clubs indirectly affiliated to AFA
3Primera BTorneo Federal A
4Primera CTorneo Regional Federal
5Primera DRegional Leagues

Notes
  1. Established under the name "Segunda División", it was renamed "Primera División B" since the 1949 edition. In 1986, with the restructuring of the entire league system, the division changed to "Primera B Metropolitana", also becoming the 3rd. level.
  2. The competition is a merger of Federal B and C tournaments.

References
  1. Asociación del Fútbol Argentino – Reglamento General, Certámenes Oficiales (arts. 98-100). Retrieved 2016-01-20
  2. Historia de fútbol de AFA: orígenes 1891/1899, by Carlos Yametti – Edición del Autor (2011) – ISBN 978-987-05-9773-5
  3. Historia del Fútbol Amateur en la Argentina, by Jorge Iwanczuk – Autores Editores (1992) – ISBN 9504343848
  4. Campeones de Primera División on AFA website
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