Categoría Primera A

The Categoría Primera A (), commonly referred to as Liga BetPlay Dimayor due to sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay, is a professional association football league in Colombia and the highest level 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, organizes the competition and operates the league system of promotion and relegation for both Categoría Primera A and Categoría Primera B leagues. Since its foundation in 1948, sixteen teams have been crowned as Colombian football champions. The most successful club is Atlético Nacional with 18 titles. The league was ranked as the 11th strongest national league in the world at the end of 2023 by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics.

History

Before 1948 there was no professional football league in Colombia. The first clubs were formed in Barranquilla and Bogotá: Barranquilla FC, Polo Club, Escuela Militar and Bartolinos, although the game took a while to develop in popularity. The 1918 Campeonato Nacional was the first tournament played between Colombian clubs, followed by the Copa Centenario Batalla de Boyacá. Independiente Medellín, 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 and DIMAYOR in 1948. Ten teams signed up for this first tournament, paying the required fee of 1,000 pesos). Two teams each signed on from Bogotá, Cali, Manizales, and Pereira, plus one from Barranquilla. 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 and all its clubs from international competition. This period, which lasted from 1949 to 1954, is known as El Dorado.

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, which won consecutive championships with stars such as Alfredo di Stéfano. Attendances boomed, and the expanding appetite for club competitions resulted in the creation of the Copa Colombia 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 started following 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 and third 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, and have been independent title-awarding tournaments since 2002.

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, although an extra round of regional derbies has been included in most seasons. The top eight teams then advance to a semi-final round consisting of two groups of four teams, each team playing the others in their group twice in a double round-robin format. The two group winners advance to the final, which is played in a home-and-away double-legged fashion.

Relegation to Categoría Primera B is determined by averaging the point totals achieved by teams in the first stage of the competition 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 2025 season. Teams that currently play are indicated in bold.

* 78 seasons: Atlético Nacional (Atlético Municipal)
* 78 seasons: Millonarios
* 78 seasons: Santa Fe
* 75 seasons: Deportivo Cali
* 74 seasons: Independiente Medellín
* 72 seasons: América de Cali
* 72 seasons: Once Caldas (Deportes Caldas, Deportivo Manizales, Atlético Manizales, Cristal Caldas, Varta Caldas, Once Philips)
* 70 seasons: Deportes Tolima
* 66 seasons: Atlético Bucaramanga
* 65 seasons: Junior
* 64 seasons: Deportivo Pereira
* 62 seasons: Deportes Quindío (Atlético Quindío)
* 57 seasons: Cúcuta Deportivo
* 53 seasons: Unión Magdalena (Samarios)
* 33 seasons: Envigado
* 27 seasons: Atlético Huila
* 25 seasons: Deportivo Pasto
* 19 seasons: Boyacá Chicó (Bogotá Chicó)
* 19 seasons: La Equidad
* 16 seasons: Cortuluá
* 15 seasons: Águilas Doradas (Itagüí Ditaires, Águilas Pereira, Rionegro Águilas)

* 12 seasons: Patriotas
* 12 seasons: Real Cartagena
* 11 seasons: Alianza Petrolera
* 10 seasons: Jaguares
* 9 seasons: Boca Juniors
* 8 seasons: Sporting
* 5 seasons: Universidad
* 4 seasons: Fortaleza
* 4 seasons: Once Deportivo
* 3 seasons: Huracán
* 2 season: Alianza
* 2 seasons: Uniautónoma
* 2 seasons: Unicosta
* 1 season: Deportivo Barranquilla
* 1 season: Centauros Villavicencio
* 1 season: Leones
* 1 season: Libertad
* 1 season: Llaneros
* 1 season: Oro Negro
* 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, which has been used to represent sporting triumph with the passing of history. The original trophy, which is engraved with the names of all the champion clubs, is kept at the headquarters of DIMAYOR and is only exhibited for fixture draws or events with sponsors, 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. All games, post-season games and international representation for the following year were cancelled.

Source for champions and runners-up by season: RSSSF

List of champions

*Teams in bold compete in the Categoría Primera A as of the 2025 season.
*''Italics'' indicates clubs that no longer exist or disaffiliated from Dimayor.

Source
RSSSF
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References

External links

Dimayor Official WebsiteColombian Federation
(archived 16 October 2019)
FIFA Association
(archived 26 June 2008)
Primera A – current season league table, recent results and upcoming fixtures at Soccerway

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Colombia
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Sports leagues established in 1948
1948 establishments in Colombia