The 2002–03 season in the Honduran Liga Nacional was the 37th edition since the intervention of the professional league in Honduran football. The season was divided into two halves (

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 ...

) which ran from August 2002 to June 2003.

2002–03 teams

* ''Real Maya changed its name to Real Patepluma for the Clausura tournament and moved to Santa Bárbara.''

Apertura

The Apertura tournament lasted from August to December 2002,

C.D. 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 ...

defeated C.D. Platense in the Final to secure its 16th league title.

Regular season

Results

: ''As of 24 November 2002''

Standings

Final round

Semifinals

=Platense vs Real España

= ---- * ''Platense won 2–1 on aggregate score.''

=Olimpia vs Marathón

= ---- * ''Olimpia won 2–1 on aggregate score.''

Final

=Platense vs Olimpia

= ---- * ''Olimpia won 3–2 on aggregate.''

Squads

Jose Gonzales

Top goalscorers

15 goals * Marcelo Ferreira ( Platense) 11 goals * Luciano Emílio (

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) ...

) 6 goals *

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 ...

( Olimpia)

Clausura

The Clausura tournament was played from February to June 2003.

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 ...

took revenge a year and a half later and defeated

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 ...

in the finals to claim its 4th league title.

Regular season

Results

: ''As of 10 May 2003''

Standings

Final round

Semifinals

=Olimpia vs Motagua

= ---- * ''Motagua won 4–2 on aggregate score.''

=Marathón vs Real España

= ---- * ''Marathón 2–2 Real España on aggregate score; Marathón advanced on better Regular season performance.''

Final

=Marathón vs Motagua

= ---- * ''Marathón won 4–1 on aggregate score.''

Squads

Top goalscorers

10 goals * Luciano Emílio (

) *

Pompilio Cacho Pompilio Cacho Valerio (born 22 December 1976) is a former List of Hondurans, Honduran Association football, football player who plays as Forward (association football), forward. Club career A much-travelled striker, Cacho started his career a ...

(

) *

(

) 8 goals *

Wilmer Velásquez Wilmer Raynel Neal Velásquez (born April 28, 1972) is a retired Honduran footballer who played as a forward. He was regarded as one of the greatest footballers in Honduran soccer for Olimpia, and by foremost as the nation's greatest striker ev ...

( Olimpia) 6 goals *

Pedro Santana Pedro Santana y Familias, 1st Marquess of Las Carreras (June 29, 1801June 14, 1864) was a Dominican military commander and royalist politician who served as the president of the junta that had established the First Dominican Republic, a pre ...

(

) 6 goals *

Jairo Martínez Jairo Manfredo Martínez Puerto (born 14 May 1978) is a Honduran former professional footballer who played as a forward. Club career Nicknamed ''el Kiki'', Martínez started his professional career at F.C. Motagua with whom he would spend the ...

(

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 ...

) * José Pacini ( Marathón) 5 goals *

Danilo Tosello Danilo Javier Tosello (born March 27, 1969) is a retired Argentine football (soccer) player. During his career, he won 4 championships in Honduras with Olimpia. Tosello is the 9th highest all time goalscorer in the Liga Nacional de Honduras. H ...

( Olimpia) *

Luis Oseguera Luis Enrique Oseguera (born 6 May 1976) is a former professional Association football, footballer who played in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup and FIFA World Youth Championship. Career Born in Olanchito, Oseguera began playing football as a striker ...

(

) 4 goals *

Emil Martínez Emil José Martínez Cruz (; (born 17 September 1982) is a Honduran former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Martínez made his professional debut for Marathón and played abroad for Alajuelense in the Primera Di ...

( Marathón) * Francisco Ramírez ( Platense) * Marcelo Ferreira ( Olimpia) * Abidán Solís (

) 3 goals *

Clifford Laing Clifford Altamirano Laing, nicknamed ''La Agujita'' (the Little Needler), (born 20 September 1982) is a Honduran football midfielder or forward. Club career Laing started his career at Platense, showing a great performance. In 2004, Real Espa ...

( Platense)

Relegation

Relegation was determined by the aggregated table of both Apertura and Clausura tournaments. On 10 May 2003,

C.D. Victoria Club Deportivo Victoria is a Honduran football club based in La Ceiba, Atlántida. They have enjoyed success in the past having won the Honduran first division once. They currently play in the Honduran first division. History Club Deportivo ...

were relegated to

Liga de Ascenso Liga or LIGA may refer to: People * Līga (name), a Latvian female given name * Luciano Ligabue, more commonly known as Ligabue or ''Liga'', Italian rock singer-songwriter Sports * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Lig ...

, however they bought Honduras Salzburg's franchise and stayed in first division.

Controversies

During the ''Apertura'' tournament,

hosted

Real C.D. España Real Club Deportivo España, Real España, or simply España is a Honduran professional football club, which plays in the Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Honduras. With 12 championships, Real España is one of the most accomplished Honduran football ...

on week 9, the match was played on 28 September and ended with a 0–2 away win to Real España. During halftime, Real España delayed more than 15 minutes and returned late to play the second half. Marathón alleged and the Board of Discipline annulled the game. A rematch was played on 13 October ending in a 0–0 draw. Such decision affected the final standings which resulted in Marathón owning the third place and sent Real España to fourth.RadioHouse.hn–CASOS INSÓLITOS DEL FÚTBOL HONDUREÑO
��13 October 2016

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2002-03 Honduran Liga Nacional Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional de Honduras seasons 1

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 ...