The 2021 Bolivian Primera División season, known as the 2021 Copa Tigo season for sponsorship reasons, was the 44th season of the División Profesional del Fútbol Boliviano,

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

's top-flight

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

league and the fourth season under División de Fútbol Profesional management. The season began on 9 March and ended on 12 December 2021.

Independiente Petrolero Club Independiente Petrolero is a football club from Sucre, Bolivia currently playing in the Bolivian Primera División, the top-tier football league in Bolivia. The club was founded on April 4, 1932 and plays its home games at the Estadio Olímpi ...

won their first title in the tournament following a 3–2 win over Guabirá and a 1–0 loss for

The Strongest Club The Strongest is a Bolivian professional football club based in La Paz, that currently plays in the Bolivian Primera División. Founded in 1908, their team colours are yellow and black. Although they have a home ground, Estadio Rafae ...

against Real Santa Cruz on the last day of the season. Always Ready were the defending champions, having won the 2020 Apertura tournament.

Format

The format for the 2021 season was approved by the 16 División Profesional clubs on 17 February 2021. Given the need to allow clubs qualified for the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

and

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American ...

as well as the

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to fulfill their international commitments, and concerns by the development of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, it was decided to play a single tournament in the year instead of the usual

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 ...

system. The 16 teams played each other twice in a double round-robin tournament for a total of 30 rounds. The

Bolivian Football Federation The Bolivian Football Federation ( es, Federación Boliviana de Fútbol, ; FBF) is the governing body of football in Bolivia. It was founded in 1925, making it the eighth oldest South American federation. It affiliated to CONMEBOL and FIFA in 192 ...

originally proposed 13 March 2021 as the date to start the competition, but per request from the four clubs that took part in the Copa Sudamericana the date was moved forward to 10 March 2021. The top four clubs at the end of the season qualified for the

2022 Copa Libertadores The 2022 Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores was the 63rd edition of the CONMEBOL Libertadores (also referred to as the ''Copa Libertadores''), South America's premier club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. On 14 May 2020, CONMEBOL announced t ...

, with the champions and runners-up entering the group stage, while the next four best-placed teams qualified for the

2022 Copa Sudamericana The 2022 Copa CONMEBOL Sudamericana was the 21st edition of the Copa Sudamericana, CONMEBOL Sudamericana (also referred to as the ''Copa Sudamericana''), South America's secondary club association football, football tournament organized by CONMEBO ...

Teams

16 teams competed in the league for the 2021 season, increasing from 14 since no clubs were relegated at the end of the previous season.

Real Tomayapo Club Deportivo Real Tomayapo, best known as Real Tomayapo, is a Bolivian football club based in Tarija. Founded in 1999, it plays in the Bolivian División Profesional after being promoted for the 2021 season by winning the Copa Simón Bolíva ...

and

, the 2020 Copa Simón Bolívar champions and runners-up, were both promoted for this season. The former competed for the first time in the top tier, while the latter returned after a 17-year absence.

Managerial changes

;Notes

Standings

Results

Top scorers

Source
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Relegation/promotion play-off

The relegation play-off was played by: * Real Potosí (2021 División Profesional 15th place) *

Universitario de Sucre Club Deportivo Universitario San Francisco Xavier is a professional football team based in Sucre, Bolivia that competes in the Bolivian Primera División. The club has two titles in its history and also has three international appearances in co ...

(2021 Copa Simón Bolívar runners-up) The winners will play in the top flight for the 2022 season. ---- ''Universitario de Sucre won 6–0 on points and were promoted to Primera División.''

References

External links

División Profesional on the FBF's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boliviano Season

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...