Paraguayan Football Federation
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The Paraguayan Football Association ( es, Asociación Paraguaya de Futbol ; APF) ( Guarani: ''Paraguái Mangapy Atyguasu''), is the
omnibus Omnibus may refer to: Film and television * ''Omnibus'' (film) * Omnibus (broadcast), a compilation of Radio or TV episodes * ''Omnibus'' (UK TV series), an arts-based documentary programme * ''Omnibus'' (U.S. TV series), an educational progr ...
governing body of
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 ...
in
Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
. It organizes the Paraguayan football league, including
futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hardcourt, hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and Indoor soccer, indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players ...
and beach soccer, as well as and the Paraguay national football team. It is based in the city of Luque, near the capital city,
Asunción Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of ...
. Football is the most popular sport in Paraguay.


History

In the late 1890s
William Paats William Paats (b. ''Friedrich Wilhelm Paats Hantelmann'', 12 January 1876, Rotterdam – d. 28 August 1946, Asunción) was a Dutch-born Paraguayan sports instructor. Often regarded as "the father of Paraguayan football", Paats' family moved t ...
brought soccer to Paraguay, when it was then played at an
Asunción Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of ...
teacher’s college. Escuela Normal de Maestros. In 1906, five existing Paraguayan football teams (Olimpia, Guaraní, Libertad, General Díaz, and Nacional) created the governing body of football in Paraguay, the Paraguayan Football League. In 1998 it adopted its current name. In June 18, 1906, the representatives of the five existing football teams in Paraguay at that time ( Olimpia, Guaraní, Libertad, General Díaz, and
Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...
) met to establish the Paraguayan Football League, named Liga Paraguaya de Football Association. The first match was played on a Sunday, July 8, 1906. Adolfo Riquelme, who was a well known Paraguayan
journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
, was the organization’s first president. In 1921, during the presidency of Enrique Pinho, the Paraguayan Football League joined the
South American Football Confederation The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL, , or CSF; es, Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol; pt, Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol) is the continental governing body of football in South America (apart from Guyana, Suri ...
(CONMEBOL). In 1925 it became a member of
FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
. In 1941 it changed its name to Liga Paraguaya de Football and in 1957 the name was Hispanicized as Liga Paraguaya de Fútbol. On December 3, 1998, its name was changed to its current denomination, Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol, which coincidentally is one of the names that had been adopted by a dissident football association that brought together some teams, which would later join the League, and which organized championships between 1911 and 1917. In 2016, APF appointed Robert Harrison, the former head of
Club Nacional Club Nacional is a Paraguayan professional football club based in the neighbourhood of Obrero in Asunción. Founded in 1904, the club currently plays in the Paraguayan Primera División, and holds its home games at Estadio Arsenio Erico. Inte ...
, as president. Harrison succeeded Alejandro Domínguez, who resigned to run for president of CONMEBOL, after Juan Ángel Napout stepped down from that role in December 2015. In 2019, APF hired Argentinian
Eduardo Berizzo Eduardo Berizzo Magnolo (; born 13 November 1969) is an Argentine retired footballer who played as a central defender. He is the manager of Chile. During his 18-year professional career he played for six teams in four countries, mainly Newell' ...
as manager of the Paraguay's national men's team. Paraguay have not previously hosted the
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
. In August 2022, APF joined up with the football associations of Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile to jointly bid to host the World Cup in 2030.


Honours

*
Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...
champions 1953, 1979 *
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
silver medal (Athens 2004) *
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
8 participations 1930, 1950, 1958, 1986, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010 The Paraguayan national team appeared in the World Cup finals eight times, reaching the quarter finals in the world FIFA event in South Africa (2010), losing to the eventual tournament victor, a Spanish team. The
Club Olimpia Club Olimpia is a Paraguayan sports club based in the city of Asunción. The club promotes the practice of various sports with most importance given to the football, rugby and basketball sides, the former being the highest priority and most s ...
has been indomitable: 38 Paraguayan championship titles; 3 in 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 ...
the continental
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
n soccer tournament (1979, 1990, 2002); and Intercontinental cup.


Leadership and staff


Presidents


Liga Paraguaya de Football Association


Liga Paraguaya de Football


Liga Paraguaya de Fútbol


Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol


Association staff (2022)


Paraguayan football league system

The football in Paraguay has four levels in men's tournaments (five in the interior of the country) and one division in women's tournaments. The Paraguayan Football Association with an affiliated association called the Interior Football Union (UFI) -which consists of 17 federations, one for each department of the country, excluding the city of
Asunción Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of ...
-, organizes the different championships. The most popular football teams in Paraguay are Olimpia, Cerro Porteño, Guaraní, Libertad and
Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...
. All of them are from Asunción. The Supercopa Paraguay is a national cup played since 2021. It is single match, on a neutral field that faces the champion of Primera División and the champion of
Copa Paraguay The Copa Paraguay is a knockout football competition in men's domestic Paraguayan football, starting in 2018 and succeeding the defunct Torneo República. The project for its creation was officially presented in December 2017 and approved by the P ...
, a competition created in 2018 with teams of all categories, including the federations that belong to UFI. There is also a category for the reserve of the football teams called Categoría Reserva and then the formative divisions from 14 to 19 years. The women’s division also has a U-18 category. Regarding
futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hardcourt, hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and Indoor soccer, indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players ...
, it is organized in four categories: a premium league, the Honor Category, Primera and Intermedia. There is also a category for women. The APF also organizes two
beach soccer Beach soccer, also known as beach football, sand football or beasal, is a variant of association football played on a beach or some form of sand. Whilst football has been played informally on beaches, the introduction of ''beach soccer'' was an a ...
championships, the Tournament of Stars and the Women’s Beach Soccer Tournament.


Controversy

The freedom of players to be contractually released and transfer between clubs and negotiate contracts (commonly called a "
buyout clause A buyout clause or release clause refers to a clause in a contract that imposes an obligation on another organisation wishing to acquire the services of the employee under contract to pay the (usually substantial) fee of the clause to the organisati ...
") has been controversial, and subject to both scholarly inquiry and legal proceedings.


See also

* 2022 Copa Paraguay *
Copa Paraguay The Copa Paraguay is a knockout football competition in men's domestic Paraguayan football, starting in 2018 and succeeding the defunct Torneo República. The project for its creation was officially presented in December 2017 and approved by the P ...
* Paraguayan Primera División * Paraguay national football team * Football in Paraguay *
Paraguayan Footballer of the Year The Paraguayan Footballer of the Year is an award given to the best Paraguayan professional football player every year. The award began officially in 1997 and it is presented by Paraguayan newspaper '' ABC Color''. Players that participate in thi ...
*
Paraguay women's national football team The Paraguay women's national football team represents Paraguay in international women's football and is controlled by the Paraguayan Football Association (Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol). ''La Albirroja'' has never reached the World Cup fina ...
* Paraguayan Tercera División *
Sport in Paraguay Sport in Paraguay is an important part of national culture. Association football is the most popular sport, while basketball is also very popular. Other sports such as padel, volleyball, futsal, swimming and tennis are popular as well. Other Parag ...
* Estadio Defensores del Chaco *
2019 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup The 2019 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup was the 10th FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, the premier international beach soccer championship contested by men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. Overall, this was the 20th edition of a List ...
* Juan Ángel Napout * Juan Escobar (Paraguayan footballer) *
Paraguay women's national under-20 football team The Paraguayan U-20 women's national football team is the national under-20 women's association football team of Paraguay. They are controlled by the Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol. They finished 2nd in their debut at the South American Under-20 ...


References


Further reading

* *


External links


Official APF site
at FIFA site {{Authority control
Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
Football in Paraguay Sports governing bodies in Paraguay Sports organizations established in 1906 1906 establishments in Paraguay