The third tier of the Bolivian football league system consists of nine regional leagues (one for each department); the number of participants varies depending on the department. It usually has between 8 and 12 teams. The winner and the runner-up of each league compete in the Copa Simón Bolívar, with the winner of such tournament gaining promotion to the 1st Division, and the runner-up playing a play-off match with the last two placed teams in the First Division. Until 1976, all 8 regional championships ( Pando didn't have an organized tournament at the time) were the top division of the national football pyramid, with the winner of the Copa Simón Bolívar being crowned as national champion. The oldest regional championship is the one played in La Paz. It started in 1914 and it was considered for many years as the top Bolivian league, especially when it turned into a semi-professional tournament in 1950 and started to include teams from Oruro and Cochabamba.

Copa Simón Bolívar

The tournament started in 1960. Initially, only champions from La Paz, Cochabamba, Oruro and Santa Cruz participated. In later years, teams from other associations joined the cup, and the tournament eventually also had runners-up participating. Until 1976, with the lack of a nationwide league, the cup determined the national champion and representative teams 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 ...

. With the creation of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano, the Bolivian FA stopped organizing the tournament. In 1989, the tournament was resurrected, with the same format of both champions and runners-up from each association, but this time each regional league was the second tier on the football pyramid so the champion was supposed to be awarded a place in the professional league. Previously, the last placed team in the 1st division was replaced by the regional champion of its department. However, that practice was kept until 1993 when finally the champion was awarded a spot in the top league. The competition format changes frequently. In 2008, the teams were divided into three groups of six teams, to save costs. Geographically close teams were teamed up and played on a home-away round-robin basis, with group 1 consisting of teams from La Paz, Oruro and Cochabamba; group 2 of teams from Potosí, Chuquisaca and Tarija, and group 3 of teams from Santa Cruz, Beni and Pando. The top two placed teams advanced to the next round, now playing play-offs on home-away basis, the three winners and the best loser advanced to the semifinals and then the final.

Liga Nacional B

It was announced by LFPB that, due to the change of football in First Division, Copa Simon Bolivar would be replaced by Liga Nacional B which consists of thirteen clubs, the champions from each department except for Tarija which would have two clubs (Champions and runner-up), the last two relegated teams from First division and the winners of Torneo Nacional Provincial. La Paz Football Association and Oruro Football Association Championship were against this change, however the National Football Association and Bolivian Football Federation approved this change in Bolivian Football.

List of Regional Championships

Beni Football Association Championship

Chuquisaca Football Association Championship

Cochabamba Football Association Championship

La Paz Football Association Championships

*1914 : The Strongest *1915 : Colegio Militar *1916 : The Strongest *1917 : The Strongest *1918-21 : ''No competition'' *1922 : The Strongest *1923 : The Strongest *1924 : The Strongest *1925 : The Strongest *1926 : ''No competition'' *1927 : Nimbles Sport *1928 : Colegio Militar *1929 :

Universitario Club Universitario de Deportes, popularly known as Universitario or simply as La "U", is a Peruvian football club located in Lima. The club was founded in 1924 under the name Federación Universitaria by students of the National University of S ...

(La Paz) *1930 : The Strongest *1931 : Nimbles Sport *1932 : Bolívar *1933 : ''No competition'' *1934 : ''No competition'' *1935 : The Strongest *1936 : Ayacucho *1937 : Bolívar *1938 : The Strongest *1939 : Bolívar *1940 : Bolívar *1941 : Bolívar *1942 : Bolívar *1943 : The Strongest *1944 : Ferroviario *1945 : The Strongest *1946 : The Strongest *1947 : CD Lítoral *1948 : CD Lítoral *1949 : CD Lítoral *1950 : Bolívar *1951 : Always Ready *1952 : The Strongest *1953 : Bolívar *1954 : CD Litoral *1955 : San José *1956 : Bolívar *1957 : Always Ready *1958 :

Wilstermann Club Deportivo Jorge Wilstermann, known simply as Wilstermann, is a Bolivian football club from the city of Cochabamba, founded on 24 November 1949 by a group of workers of Lloyd Aereo Boliviano. It is named after Bolivian aviator Jorge Wilste ...

*1959 :

*1960 :

*1961 :

Deportivo Municipal Club Centro Deportivo Municipal, commonly known as Deportivo Municipal, is a Peruvian football club based in Lima, Peru. They are among Peru's most recognizable clubs and enjoy considerable popularity. The bulk of their success was won a few ye ...

*1962 :

Chaco Petrolero Club Deportivo Chaco Petrolero is a Bolivian football club based in La Paz. Founded on 20 October 1944, it currently plays in Bolivian Football Regional Leagues, holding home games at ''Estadio Hernando Siles'', with a 42,000-seat capacity. Hist ...

*1963 : The Strongest *1964 : The Strongest *1965 : Municipal *1966 : Bolívar *1967 : Bolívar *1968 : Always Ready *1969 : Bolívar *1970 : The Strongest *1971 : The Strongest *1972 : Litoral *1973 : Municipal *1974 : The Strongest *1975 : 31 De Octubre *1976 : Bolívar *1977 : 31 De Octubre *1978 : 31 De Octubre *1979 : ''No competition'' *1980 : Unión Maestranza *1981 : Chaco Petrolero *1982 :

Mariscal Braun Club Mariscal Braun is a football club based in the city of La Paz, Bolivia, which currently competes in the La Paz Regional League. It was founded on August 25, 1952 by the workers of the Cervecería Boliviana Nacional, It is for this reason t ...

*1983 : Litoral *1984 : ''No competition'' *1985 : ''No competition'' *1986 : Always Ready *1987 : Chaco Petrolero *1988 : Mariscal Braun 1989 To Present

Oruro Football Association Championship

Pando Football Association Championship

Potosí Football Association Championship

Santa Cruz Football Association Championship

Tarija Football Association Championship

References

External links

* http://www.rsssf.com/ * http://www.actiweb.es/5cienty/8.html {{Football in Bolivia 3 Bol