The Superliga Argentina de Fútbol, (officially "Superliga Profesional del Fútbol Argentino") was an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

sports association responsible for administering the main professional league of Argentine football, the Primera División, between

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

and

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

. The Superliga was contractually bound to the

Argentine Football Association The Argentine Football Association ( es, Asociación del Fútbol Argentino, ; AFA) is the governing body of football in Argentina based in Buenos Aires. It organises the main divisions of Argentine league system (from Primera División to Torn ...

, although it operated as an autonomous body and had its own statute.El fútbol que viene asomando
by Gustavo Veiga, Página/12, 28 Jun 2017 As well as the Primera División championships, the body also created and organised two domestic cup competitions, the

Copa de la Superliga The Copa de la Superliga Argentina was an Argentine cup competition. It was contested by all the teams participating in the Primera División, and played after the conclusion of the regular season. The 2019 edition was sponsored by YPF, with its ...

and Trofeo de Campeones,

History

In 2016, the Association approved the creation of a new entity, named "Superliga Argentina de Fútbol", which would take over the organisation of the two main leagues in Argentine football, Primera División and

Primera B Nacional Primera Nacional (usually called simply Nacional B, in English "National B Division", and known as Primera B Nacional until the 2019–20 season) is the second division of the Argentine football league system. The competition is made up of 37 tea ...

championships. The new entity was officially registered on 4 November 2016. Nevertheless, in February 2017, the AFA modified its statute, giving Superliga rights to organise only the Primera División tournaments and excluding Primera B Nacional, which remained organised by the main body. The main football leagues of Europe (such as

English Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

or Spanish

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

, organised by associations dedicated exclusively to that championships and operating as separate entities from their respective National Associations) served as inspiration for the creation of the Superliga. The 2016–17 Primera División championship was the last tournament organised by the AFA. From the 2017–18 season, the "Superliga Argentina" took over the organisation of Primera División championships since then on. Therefore, the AFA focused on the lower divisions of Argentine league system (from

to Torneo Regional Federal and

Primera D The Primera D is one of two leagues that form the fifth division of the Argentine football league system. Made up of 11 clubs from Buenos Aires Province, the league is the only one that remains amateur. The other league at level five is the Torne ...

), including domestic cups and all the Argentina national teams. The Superliga, through the Board of Directors and with the advice of the Competencies Management, was the only competent entity to establish all the obligations, guidelines and instructions that must be met by the participating clubs of Primera División on all aspects of the tournament, including those relating to protocol, commercial rights, advertising, press, accreditations. The SAF also awarded winning teams with trophies especially created for the occasion. For instance, the Primera División cup was designed by renowned goldsmith Adrián Pallarols. Apart from the trophy for the winning team, commemorative medals were also launched to award their players. The first club being awarded with the trophy was

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 ...

as 2017–18 champion. In February 2020, President of AFA Claudio Tapia stated that the Superliga had been established to position Argentine football as a product, but it failed in that purpose. As a result, AFA would take over the organisation of Primera División championships, according with Tapia's statement.Reunión clave en el fútbol argentino: Tapia recibió a los principales dirigentes de Primera con la idea de ponerle fin a la Superliga
on Infobae, 26 Feb 2020 One month after those announcements, the president of the Superliga, Mariano Elizondo, resigned.Renunció Mariano Elizondo
Infobae, 10 March 2020 The Superliga was replaced by a similar body, named "Liga Profesional de Fútbol", directly linked to AFA and presided by

Marcelo Tinelli Marcelo Hugo Tinelli (born 1 April 1960) is an Argentine television host, media producer and businessman, best known as the host of the TV show '' Showmatch'' broadcast on Argentina's El Trece. One of the most famous supporters of Club San Lor ...

. It was expected that Superliga would be dissolved once the 2020 edition of Copa de la Superliga Argentina finished, but due to

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 ...

the cup was cancelled, accelerating times. In May 2020, the LFP was launched by the AFA.Quién es quién en una AFA nueva
''Clarín'', 19 May 2020

Additional competitions

In 2018, the creation of a new competition, the " Copa de la Superliga Argentina" (Superliga Argentina Cup) was announced. It will be an official competition similar to domestic cup, with a format similar to

Copa Argentina The Copa Argentina (English: ''Argentine Cup''), officially known as the "Copa Argentina AXION energy" due to sponsorship reasons, is an official football cup competition organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA), with the aim of qual ...

in a knock-out system with all the matches being held in neutral locations. The cup was contested by teams participating in Primera División. The six best placed teams directly qualified to the round of 16 while the 20 remaining played a preliminary round. All the matches were played in a

two-legged In sports (particularly association football), a two-legged tie is a contest between two teams which comprises two matches or "legs", with each team as the home team in one leg. The winning team is usually determined by aggregate score, the sum o ...

series with the exception of the final. The winning team played 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 ...

while the runner-up was eligible for the

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 ...

. The other competition created by the body was the

Trofeo de Campeones de la Superliga Argentina The Trofeo de Campeones de la Superliga Argentina was an official national football cup of Argentina organized by the Superliga Argentina de Fútbol (SAF).Copa de la Superliga The Copa de la Superliga Argentina was an Argentine cup competition. It was contested by all the teams participating in the Primera División, and played after the conclusion of the regular season. The 2019 edition was sponsored by YPF, with its ...

respectively.

Competitions

List of competitions organized by Superliga Argentina de Fútbol:

Notes

References

External links