Liga Dominicana de Fútbol

The Liga Dominicana de Fútbol is the first professional football league in Dominican Republic, it was launched in March 2015.[1] For sponsorship reasons it is known as LDF Banco Popular.[2]

Liga Dominicana de Fútbol
Founded2014
CountryDominican Republic
ConfederationCONCACAF
Number of teams12
Level on pyramid1
Domestic cup(s)Copa Dominicana de Fútbol
International cup(s)CFU Club Championship
Current championsCibao FC
(1st title)
Most championshipsPantoja
Barcelona Atlético
Atlántico FC
Cibao FC
(1 title each)
WebsiteLiga Dominicana de Fútbol
2019 Liga Dominicana de Fútbol

Competition format

In the first three installments, each team played 18 matches in the regular season, the 4 teams with most points qualify for the playoffs. The champion will be decided in a single-legged final.

The 2018 season will have grown from 10 to 12 teams with the arrival in San Francisco de Macoris (Atlético) and Bayaguana (Inter). Delfines of the East at the end will be able to play in La Romana so the LDF will have a presence in seven provinces and the National District, and the only professional league with a team in the South region San Cristóbal.

The tournament will feature 132 regular series matches. Each team will play 22 games in the regular phase (instead of the 18 of the first three editions), the six highest scoring will advance to the second phase, where they will play one against all in a round. The best four will advance to a semi-final with round-trip matches and the winners will play the championship in a single match, which extends the league calendar to 152 matches from 95 in 2017.

As a novelty, the LDF 2018 season will have a national and international television transmission chain that will bring to the small screen 60 matches at the local level and a number of meetings to be defined that will be taken to at least five nations of the region, including the United States and Mexico


The 2019 tournament of the Liga Dominicana de Futbol will start with 12 teams. The event will be developed with a new format, each of the twelve clubs can have up to 6 foreign players on their payroll.

The new format includes an "Apertura" and a "Clausura" tournament, both will be played one round and has been agreed with the twelve clubs and also with CONCACAF. The "Apertura" will have a semifinal with the four best teams and then a final, as well as the "Clausura".

Then the champion of each tournament will compete to win the qualification to the CONCACAF championship tournament. Another club will qualify for the CONCACAF tournament, accumulating the most points in both tournaments.

Teams

Team City Stadium (capacity) Founded First
season
Head coach
LDF
Cibao FC Santiago Estadio Cibao FC (10,000) 2014 2015 Oliver Mendoza Gil
Barcelona Atlético Santo Domingo Este Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez (27,000) 1989 2015
Jarabacoa FC Jarabacoa Estadio Olímpico (La Vega) 2017 2018 Luis Ceara
Moca FC Moca Estadio Complejo Deportivo Moca 86 (2,000) 1971 2015 Ronald Batista
Atlántico FC Puerto Plata Estadio Leonel Plácido (2,000) 2014 2015 Lenin Jose Bastidas Bello
Atlético San Cristóbal San Cristóbal Estadio Panamericano (3,000) 2014 2015 Froilan Hidalgo
Delfines Del Este La Romana Estadio Municipal La Romana (1,200) 2014 2015 Juan Carlos Gastón
O&M FC Santo Domingo Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez (27,000) 2010 2015 Martin Arriola
Atlético Pantoja Santo Domingo Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez (27,000) 2000 2015 Orlando Capellino
Atlético Vega Real La Vega Estadio Olímpico (La Vega) (7,000) 2014 2015 Jose Rodriguez
Inter RD Monte Plata Province Complejo deportivo de Bayaguana (1,800) 2018 Matias Tatángelo
Atlético San Francisco San Francisco de Macoris Estadio Julián Javier (12,000) 2017 2018 jean Carlos Guell

Former teams

Team City Stadium (capacity) First
season
Last
season
Head coach Record W/T/L
Bauger FC Santo Domingo Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez (27,000) 2015 2017 Jorge Rolando Baguer 24/06/24

Champions

Results by year
Year Playoff Champions
(Champions)
Regular Season
(Regular Season)
Runner-up Top Scorer(s) Top Scorer's Club Goals
2015 Pantoja Bauger Atlántico FC Jonathan Faña Bauger 17
2016 Barcelona Atlético Barcelona Atlético Cibao Anderson Arias Club Barcelona Atlético 11
2017 Atlántico FC Cibao FC Club Atlético Pantoja Armando Maita, Mauro Gomez, Woodensky Cherenfant Club Atlético Pantoja, Atlántico FC, Cibao FC 10
2018 Cibao FC Atlético de San Francisco Atlético de San Francisco Fredys Arrieta Atlético de San Francisco 18


Most goals

Place Player Country Team (s) Goals
1Jonathan Faña Dominican RepublicBauger FC (2015)
Cibao FC (2016)
Moca FC (2017-)
30
2Berthame Dine HaitiAtlántico FC (2015)
Atlético Vega Real (2016-)
24
3Anderson Arias VenezuelaAtlántico FC (2015)
Club Barcelona Atlético (2016)
O&M FC (2017-)
23
4Bony Pierre HaitiBauger FC (2015-2016)
Club Barcelona Atlético (2017-)
21
5Domingo Peralta Dominican RepublicCibao FC (2015-)18

Stadiums and locations

Locations of teams in 2016 LDF

Current LDF stadiums

Atlántico FC Atlético San Cristóbal Atlético Vega Real Jarabacoa FC
Estadio Leonel Plácido Estadio Panamericano Estadio Olímpico (La Vega) Estadio Olímpico (La Vega)
Capacity: 2,000 Capacity: 3,000 Capacity: 7,000 Capacity: 7,000
Club Atlético Pantoja Club Barcelona Atlético Delfines Del Este Moca FC
Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez Estadio Municipal La Romana Estadio Complejo Deportivo Moca 86
Capacity: 27,000 Capacity: 27,000 Capacity: 1,200 Capacity: 2,000
Cibao FC Universidad O&M FC Inter RD Atlético San Francisco
Estadio Cibao FC Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez Complejo deportivo de Bayaguana Olímpico de San Francisco de Macoris
Capacity: 10,000 Capacity: 27,000 Capacity: 1,800 Capacity: 500

References

  1. "Dominican Republic launches professional league". CONCACAF. 10 March 2015. Archived from the original on 30 March 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  2. "Banco Popular y la Federación Dominicana de Fútbol firman alianza estratégica" (in Spanish). El Nuevo Diario. 23 March 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
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