The 2023 Primera División season, officially Liga de Fútbol Profesional Venezolano or ''Liga FUTVE'', was the 67th season of the

Venezuelan Primera División The Primera División (; ), or Liga Venezolana (; ) is the top-flight professional football league of Venezuela. It was created in 1921 and turned professional in 1957. It is organized by the Federación Venezolana de Fútbol. Format Starting i ...

, the top-flight

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

league in Venezuela, and the 42nd season since the start of the professional era. The season began on 3 February and ended on 25 November 2023.

Deportivo Táchira ''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) Mexicable is an aerial lift line in Ecatepec de ...

won their tenth title at the end of the season, defeating

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

on penalty kicks following a 1–1 draw after extra time in the final.

Metropolitanos The Metropolitanos of Havana was a baseball team in the Cuban National Series. The Metros, also known as the ''Guerreros'' (Warriors), had historically been a poor team, though they were ostensibly the heir to the Habana teams of the pre-revolut ...

were the defending champions.

Format

The competition format for this season was announced by the Liga FUTVE on 31 January 2023. Similar to the previous season, the 15 participating clubs took part in a double round-robin first stage in which they played each other twice (once at home and once away) for a total of 28 games. The top four clubs, which qualified for the

2024 Copa Libertadores The 2024 Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores was the 65th edition of the CONMEBOL Libertadores (also referred to as the ''Copa Libertadores''), South America's premier club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. The competition began on 6 February an ...

, also advanced to a final stage where they played each other twice with the top two teams playing a single-match final to decide the league champions. However, and unlike the previous season, no final stage to decide the teams qualified for the

2024 Copa Sudamericana The 2024 Copa CONMEBOL Sudamericana was the 23rd 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 ...

was played, with the four berths to that competition instead being awarded to the teams placing 5th to 8th in the first stage. The team placing last in the first stage was relegated to

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

for the following season.

Teams

16 teams were expected to compete in the 2023 season, subject to the fulfillment of club licensing requirements: the top 15 teams in the first stage of the 2022 season as well as the 2022

champions Angostura, who defeated Academia Anzoátegui in the Segunda División final on 16 October 2022. They replaced

Aragua Aragua State (, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. It is located in the north-central region of Venezuela. It has plains, jungles and Caribbean beaches. The most popular beaches are Cata and Choroni. It has Venezuela's first national par ...

, who were relegated to Segunda División at the end of the previous season after finishing in bottom place. On 12 December 2022, it was announced that

Zulia Zulia State (, ; Wayuu: ''Mma’ipakat Suuria'') is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Maracaibo. As of the 2011 census, it has a population of 3,704,404, the largest population among Venezuela's states. It is also one of t ...

and Segunda División side Rayo Zuliano would merge, with the latter taking the former's place in the league. The merger was officially confirmed on 28 January 2023, with which Rayo Zuliano competed in the top flight for the first time ever in this season. Furthermore, two days later it was confirmed that Deportivo Lara would not take part in the season, ultimately bringing the number of participating teams down to 15.

Stadia and locations

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

;Notes

First stage

The first stage started on 3 February and ended on 8 October 2023.

Standings

Results

Final stage

The top four teams in the first stage contested the competition's final stage, playing each other twice. The top two teams advanced to the final and also qualified for the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

of the 2024 Copa Libertadores, whilst the third- and fourth-placed teams qualified for the preliminary stages of the same competition.

Standings

Results

Final

The final match was hosted by the finalist with the best performance in the first stage of the season.

Top goalscorers

Source
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References

External links

* of the

Venezuelan Football Federation The Venezuelan Football Federation ( or FVF) is the governing body of Association football, football in Venezuela. It was founded in 1925 and affiliated in 1952. It is a member of CONMEBOL as well as FIFA, and is in charge of the Venezuela nat ...

Liga FUTVE
{{2023 in South American football (CONMEBOL)

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Venezuelan Primera División seasons 1