The Primera División (; ), or Liga Venezolana (; ) is the top-flight professional
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 of
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 ...
. It was created in 1921 and turned professional in 1957. It is organized by the
Federación Venezolana de Fútbol.
Format
Starting in the
2020 season, 20 teams play in a home-and-away
round-robin tournament
A round-robin tournament or all-play-all tournament is a competition format in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn.''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1971, G. & ...
, with the top eight teams advancing to the semi-final stage.
At the semi-final stage, the eight teams are divided into two groups of four teams each, facing the other teams in their group twice. The two group winners advance to the Serie Final to decide the league champions.
International qualification
*The champions and runners-up qualify to the group phase of the
Copa Libertadores
The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...
.
*The team with the most points in the entire season qualifies to the preliminary round of the
Copa Libertadores
The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...
as Venezuela 3.
*The second and third team with the most points in the entire season qualifies to the
Copa Sudamericana as Venezuela 1 and Venezuela 2.
*If a team won both tournaments that team qualify to the
Copa Libertadores
The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...
as Venezuela 1, then the first and second team with the most points in the entire season qualify to the
Copa Libertadores
The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...
as Venezuela 2 and Venezuela 3 and the fourth and fifth team with the most points in the entire season qualify to the
Copa Sudamericana as Venezuela 1 and Venezuela 2.
*If the winner of the
Copa Venezuela does not qualify to the
Copa Libertadores
The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...
through the aforementioned manners or through the point total in the entire season, they take the Venezuela 2 spot in the
Copa Sudamericana.
Relegation
*The two lowest placed teams in the entire season are automatically relegated to the
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 ...
.
2024 teams
List of champions
List of champions since the first championship held in 1920. The Primera División turned professional on 21 February 1957.
Amateur era
Professional era
Titles by club
Clubs in bold compete in Primera División as of the
current season. Clubs in ''italic'' no longer exist.
Half-year / Short tournaments
Apertura and Clausura seasons
See also
*
Venezuelan football league system
References
External links
*
News in Spanish about the First Division of the Venezuelan Football/SoccerNews and pictures
at
RSSSF
The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (''RSSSF'') is an international organisation dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around ...
FuriaVinotinto – Unofficial Forum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Venezuelan Primera Division
1
Top-level football leagues in South America
Sports leagues established in 1921