The Categoría Primera A (), commonly referred to as Liga BetPlay Dimayor (between 2015 and 2019 ''Liga Águila'') due to

sponsorship Sponsoring something (or someone) is the act of supporting an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. The individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor, is k ...

by online betting company BetPlay, is a Colombian professional league for

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

clubs. It is the country's premier football tournament and sits at the top of the Colombian football league system. A total of twenty clubs compete in the league's regular season. ''División Mayor del Fútbol Profesional Colombiano'', better known as DIMAYOR, operates the league system of promotion and relegation for both Categoría Primera A and

Categoría Primera B Categoría Primera B, commonly referred to as Torneo BetPlay Dimayor due to sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay (formerly ''Torneo Águila''), is the second-division football league in Colombia. Format DIMAYOR has applied a new form ...

leagues. Since its foundation in 1948, fifteen teams have been crowned as Colombian football champions. The most successful club is

Atlético Nacional Atlético Nacional S. A., best known as Atlético Nacional, is a Colombian professional association football, football club based in Medellín. The club is one of only three clubs to have played in every first division tournament in the countr ...

with 17 titles.

History

Before 1948 there was no professional football league in Colombia. The first clubs were formed in

Barranquilla Barranquilla () is the capital district of Atlántico Department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean Coast region; as of 2018 it had a population of 1,206,319, making it Col ...

and

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

: Barranquilla FC, Polo Club, Escuela Militar and Bartolinos, although the game took a while to develop in popularity. The

1918 Campeonato Nacional The 1918 Campeonato Nacional was the first official tournament of the Colombian football. It was only played by two teams from the city of Bogotá: Bartolinos, a team of the Colegio San Bartolomé, a state owned school ruled by the Jesuits , ...

was the first tournament played between Colombian clubs, followed by the

Copa Centenario Batalla de Boyacá The Copa del Centenario de la Batalla de Boyacá was the second official tournament in the history of the Colombian football, organized to commemorate 100 years since the Battle of Boyacá. The format of the tournament was similar to the 1918 Ca ...

Independiente Medellín Deportivo Independiente Medellín, also known as Independiente Medellín or DIM, is a Colombian professional football club based in Medellín that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at Estadio Atanasio Girardo ...

, founded on 15 April 1913, is the oldest club that remains as a professional club. The first tournament was organised by the

Colombian Football Federation The Colombian Football Federation (in es, Federación Colombiana de Fútbol) is the governing body of football in Colombia. It was founded in 1924 and has been affiliated to FIFA since 1936. It is a member of CONMEBOL and is in charge of the Col ...

and DIMAYOR in 1948. Ten teams signed up for this first tournament, paying the required fee of 1,000

pesos The peso is the monetary unit of several countries in the Americas, and the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries the peso uses the same sign, "$", as many currencies named "dollar" ...

). Two teams each signed on from

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the second ...

Manizales Manizales () is a city in central Colombia. It is the capital of the Department of Caldas, and lies near the Nevado del Ruiz volcano. Currently, the city is the main center for the production of Colombian coffee and an important hub for higher ...

, and Pereira, plus one from

. 252 players were registered for that year's tournament, 182 of which were Colombians, 13 were Argentine, 8 Peruvian, 5 Uruguayan, 2 Chilean, 2 Ecuadorian, 1 Dominican, and 1 Spanish. Soon after the league's foundation, disputes between Adefútbol (the body governing amateur football in Colombia) and DIMAYOR (the organizing body behind the new national league) erupted. DIMAYOR broke away from Adefútbol, announcing that it would operate independently of FIFA rules and regulations. In response, FIFA sanctioned Colombian football, banning the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

and all its clubs from international competition. This period, which lasted from 1949 to 1954, is known as

El Dorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king o ...

. Far from being a dark time in Colombian football, this was its golden age. No longer required to pay transfer fees to clubs from other nations, Colombian clubs began importing stars from all over South America and Europe. The most aggressive signer of international players was

Millonarios Millonarios Fútbol Club is a professional Colombian football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the El Campín stadium. Millonarios was initially created in 1937 by students f ...

, which won consecutive championships with stars such as

Alfredo di Stéfano Alfredo (, ) is a cognate of the Anglo-Saxon name Alfred and a common Italian, Galician, Portuguese and Spanish language personal name. People with the given name include: *Alfredo (born 1946), Brazilian footballer born as Alfredo Mostarda Filho ...

. Attendances boomed, and the expanding appetite for club competitions resulted in the creation of the

Copa Colombia The Copa Colombia ( en, Colombia Cup, link=yes); officially known as Copa BetPlay Dimayor is an annual football tournament in Colombia. It is contested by the 36 professional clubs of DIMAYOR and is the nation's domestic cup competition, equiva ...

in 1950. That knockout competition was played sporadically over the next 58 years and only became an annual tournament in 2008. Although the stars returned to their nations when Colombia rejoined the international fold in 1954, the era was never forgotten. In 1968 the league followed the pattern emerging in South America by replacing its year-long tournament with two shorter ones. From this point forward, Colombian clubs would compete in two tournaments a year; the ''Apertura'' from February to June and the ''Finalización'' from July to December, which became independent championships in 2002. Another league restructuring came in 1991, with the addition of

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

and

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

divisions. The third division had its 2002 edition cancelled for economic reasons, and stopped awarding promotion to the professional tiers in 2003 until it was finally dropped in 2010.

Format

The current format of Colombian football was adopted for the 2019 season. The top flight features 20 teams, all of which play through the Apertura and Finalización tournaments each year. Both tournaments are conducted according to an identical three-stage format. The first stage is conducted on a single round-robin basis, with each team playing the other teams once for a total of 19 matches. The top eight teams then advance to a knockout round consisting of two groups, each team playing six times in a round-robin format. The two leaders of each group advance to the final, which is played in a home and away leg fashion. Relegation to

is determined by averaging the point totals achieved by teams over the previous three seasons. Each year, the bottom two teams drop out and are replaced by the top two from Primera B.

Current teams

Seasons by club

This is the complete list of the clubs that have taken part in at least one ''Categoría Primera A'' season, founded in 1948, until the 2022 season. Teams that currently play are indicated in bold. * 75 seasons: Atlético Nacional (Atlético Municipal) * 75 seasons:

* 75 seasons: Santa Fe * 72 seasons:

Deportivo Cali Asociación Deportivo Cali, best known as Deportivo Cali, is a Colombian sports club based in Cali, most notable for its football team, which currently competes in the Categoría Primera A. Deportivo Cali is one of the most successful footba ...

* 71 seasons:

* 69 seasons: América de Cali * 69 seasons: Once Caldas (Deportes Caldas, Deportivo Manizales, Atlético Manizales) * 67 seasons:

Deportes Tolima Club Deportes Tolima S.A., commonly known as Deportes Tolima, or simply as Tolima, is a Colombian professional football club based in Ibagué, Tolima Department that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. Founded in 1954, the club has wo ...

* 63 seasons:

Atlético Bucaramanga Club Atlético Bucaramanga S.A., better known as Atlético Bucaramanga, is a Colombian professional football team based in Bucaramanga. The club plays its home games at the Alfonso López stadium. The club was founded on 11 May 1949 by Rafael ...

* 62 seasons: Deportes Quindío (Atlético Quindío) * 62 seasons:

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

* 61 seasons:

Deportivo Pereira Deportivo Pereira is a professional Colombian football team based in Pereira, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Hernán Ramírez Villegas stadium. History Early years While there are several ...

* 57 seasons:

Cúcuta Deportivo Cúcuta Deportivo Fútbol Club S. A. is a professional Colombian football club based in Cúcuta, which plays in the Categoria Primera B. The club was officially founded on 10 September 1924, and its first appearance in a professional league ...

* 51 seasons: Unión Magdalena (Samarios) * 30 seasons:

Envigado Envigado () is a town southeast of Medellín, Colombia in the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley. It borders El Poblado, Medellín to the north, Sabaneta to the south, El Retiro and Caldas ...

* 26 seasons:

Atlético Huila Atlético Huila is a professional Colombian football team based in Neiva, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera B. The club was founded on November 29, 1990, making it one of the youngest professional football clubs in Colombia. The club' ...

* 22 seasons:

Deportivo Pasto Asociación Deportivo Pasto, also known as Deportivo Pasto, is a Colombian professional football team based in the city of Pasto, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Estadio Departamental Libertad. D ...

* 16 seasons: Boyacá Chicó (Bogotá Chicó) * 16 seasons:

La Equidad Club Deportivo La Equidad Seguros, also known as La Equidad, is a professional Colombian football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Metropolitano de Techo stadium. History ...

* 16 seasons:

Cortuluá Cortuluá, officially named Cortuluá Fútbol Club S. A. and previously known as Corporación Club Deportivo Tuluá, is a Colombian football club from the municipality of Tuluá in the Valle del Cauca. It was founded in 1967 and plays in the Cate ...

* 12 seasons:

Real Cartagena Real Cartagena is a professional Colombian football team based in Cartagena, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera B. They play their home games at the Jaime Morón León stadium. History The origins of Real Cartagena date back to 197 ...

* 12 seasons: Águilas Doradas (Itagüí Ditaires, Águilas Pereira, Rionegro Águilas) * 11 seasons: Patriotas * 10 seasons:

Alianza Petrolera Alianza Petrolera is a Colombian professional football team based in Barrancabermeja, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. The club was founded in 1991 and played in the Categoría Primera B until 2012. They play their home games at ...

* 9 seasons:

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

* 8 seasons: Sporting * 8 seasons: Jaguares * 5 seasons: Universidad * 4 seasons: Once Deportivo * 3 seasons: Huracán * 2 seasons:

Fortaleza Fortaleza (, locally , Portuguese for ''Fortress'') is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeastern Brazil. It belongs to the Metropolitan mesoregion of Fortaleza and microregion of Fortaleza. It is Brazil's 5th largest city and the t ...

* 2 seasons: Uniautónoma * 2 seasons: Unicosta * 1 season:

Deportivo Barranquilla ''Deportivo'' (Spanish, 'sporting') may refer to: * Deportivo de La Coruña, commonly known as simply Deportivo, a Spanish football club * Déportivo, a French rock band * Deportivo (Mexicable), an aerial lift station in Ecatepec, Mexico * Deport ...

* 1 season:

Centauros Villavicencio Corporación Deportiva Centauros Villavicencio, was a Colombian football club based in the city of Villavicencio. The club was founded on 14 January 2003 and played its home games at the Manuel Calle Lombana stadium, which has a capacity of 15,0 ...

* 1 season: Leones * 1 season: Libertad * 1 season:

Oro Negro Oro or ORO, meaning gold in Spanish and Italian, may refer to: Music and dance * Oro (dance), a Balkan circle dance * Oro (eagle dance), an eagle dance from Montenegro and Herzegovina * "Oro" (song), the Serbian entry in the 2008 Eurovision S ...

* 1 season: Tigres

Trophy

The same trophy has been used to commemorate the annual champion since 1948. Made of German silver, weighing roughly 5 kilos and measuring approximately 90 centimeters tall, in its upper part it has the figure of the

Winged Victory of Samothrace The ''Winged Victory of Samothrace'', or the ''Nike of Samothrace'', is a votive monument originally found on the island of Samothrace, north of the Aegean Sea. It is a masterpiece of Greek sculpture from the Hellenistic era, dating from the be ...

, which has been used to represent sporting triumph with the passing of history. The original trophy is kept at the headquarters of DIMAYOR and is engraved with all the names of the champion clubs, with the champions being awarded an exact replica. Along with the competition's official trophy, the champions are also awarded an additional trophy handed over by the league's sponsor.

Clubs in international competitions

Players

Appearances

Top scorers

Champions by seasons

The only tournament that was not awarded to a champion occurred in 1989, after the assassination of referee Álvaro Ortega on October 1 in

Medellín Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...

. All games, post-season games and international representation for the following year were cancelled.

Table

Source for champions and runners-up by season: RSSSF

List of champions

Source
RSSSF
/small>

References

External links

Dimayor Official WebsiteColombian FederationFiFa AssociationPrimera A – current season league table, recent results and upcoming fixtures at Soccerway
{{DEFAULTSORT:Categoria Primera A

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

1 Sports leagues established in 1948 1948 establishments in Colombia