The 1996–97 Honduran Liga Nacional season was the 31st edition of the Honduran Liga Nacional. The format of the tournament remained the same as the previous season.

Club Deportivo Olimpia Club Deportivo Olimpia is a professional Honduran football club based in Tegucigalpa, Francisco Morazán. The club is the nation's most successful team both in the domestic league and in international club competitions. History Olimpia was f ...

won the title after defeating

C.D. Platense Platense Football Club S.A. de C.V. or simply Platense is a Honduran football club, located in Platense, Puerto Cortés, Cortés. The club was founded on 4 July 1960 and in 1965 became the first champions of the Honduran National Football Lea ...

in the finals. Both teams qualified to the

1998 CONCACAF Champions' Cup The 1998 CONCACAF Champions' Cup was the 34th edition of the annual international club football competition held in the CONCACAF region (North America, Central America and the Caribbean), the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. It determined that year's club ...

. This was the last long-season tournament before the introduction of the

Apertura and Clausura The ' and ' tournaments is a split season format for Spanish-speaking sports leagues. It is a relatively recent innovation for many Latin American football leagues in which the traditional association football season from August to May is div ...

format.

1996–97 teams

Independiente Villela Independiente de San Pedro Sula was a football club located in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. The club played several seasons in the Honduran Liga Nacional as well in the Honduran Amateur League. History Independiente Villela obtained the Cort� ...

* Marathón *

Motagua The Motagua River () is a river in Guatemala. It rises in the western highlands of Guatemala where it is also called Río Grande, and runs in an easterly direction to the Gulf of Honduras. The final few kilometres of the river form part of the ...

* Olimpia * Platense *

Real España Real may refer to: Currencies * Brazilian real (R$) * Central American Republic real * Mexican real * Portuguese real * Spanish real * Spanish colonial real Music Albums * ''Real'' (L'Arc-en-Ciel album) (2000) * ''Real'' (Bright album) (2010) ...

Real Maya Real may refer to: Currencies * Brazilian real (R$) * Central American Republic real * Mexican real * Portuguese real * Spanish real * Spanish colonial real Music Albums * ''Real'' (L'Arc-en-Ciel album) (2000) * ''Real'' (Bright album) (2010) ...

* Universidad (''promoted'') *

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Vida Vida means “life” in Spanish and Portuguese. It may refer to: Geography * Vida (Gradačac), village in Bosnia and Herzegovina * Lake Vida, Victoria Valley, Antarctica * U.S. settled places: ** Vida, Montana ** Vida, Oregon ** Vida, Missour ...

Regular season

Standings

Results (Rounds 1–18)

* ''Marathón–Olimpia abandoned at '70 (1–2). Result stood.''

Results (Rounds 19–27)

Final round

Hexagonal

* ''Real España won 3–2 on aggregated.'' * ''Victoria 2–2 Marathón on aggregated. Victoria advanced on better Regular season record.'' * ''Platense won 4–3 on aggregated.''

Triangular

Final

* ''Olimpia won 4–1 on aggregated.''

Top scorer

Denilson Costa Denilson Costa (born 10 June 1968) is a Brazilian and naturalized Honduran football coach and former player. He is currently the second all-time top scorer in the Honduran Liga Nacional and was also the first to reach 150 goals. Now he is a t ...

(

) with 13 goals

Squads

Controversies

* On 12 October 1996, during a week 7 match between

C.D. Marathón Club Deportivo Marathón is a Honduran professional association football, football club based in San Pedro Sula. Founded on 25 November 1925, Marathón currently plays in the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional de Honduras. History Club Deport ...

and

, then Marathón's president José Yacamán ordered his team to quit the game as he claimed that they were being targeted by referee Arturo Tábora with controversial calls. The game was not resumed and the result stood 1–2 to Olimpia.RadioHouse.hn – CASOS INSÓLITOS DEL FÚTBOL HONDUREÑO
– 13 October 2016 * In the last round,

C.D. Motagua Club de Fútbol Motagua (), formerly Club Deportivo Motagua up to 2017, is an association football club, located in Tegucigalpa, capital of Honduras. F.C. Motagua was founded as ''Club Deportivo Motagua'' on 29 August 1928. The club competes ...

defeated

Tegucigalpa Tegucigalpa (, , ), formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( es, Tegucigalpa, Municipio del Distrito Central or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz'', is the capital and largest city ...

with a 7–2 score. This game sentenced Independiente to certain relegation. However, the ''Chorizeros'' protested that Motagua had included defender Júnior Izaguirre in its lineup. Izaguirre, who was on the bench that day, saw a red card in a reserves game a week prior. In order to avoid further conflicts, the league decided to abolish relegation and invited Independiente to play in the 1997–98 season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1996-97 Honduran Liga Nacional Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional de Honduras seasons 1996–97 in Honduran football

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...