Argentine Football Association

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Argentine Football Association
CONMEBOL
Association crest
Founded 21 February 1893; 131 years ago (1893-02-21) [1]
Headquarters Buenos Aires, Argentina
FIFA affiliation 1912; 112 years ago (1912)
CONMEBOL affiliation 1916; 108 years ago (1916)
President Luis Segura (provisional)[2][3]
Website www.afa.org.ar

The Argentine Football Association (Spanish: Asociación del Fútbol Argentino, locally: [asosjaˈsjon del ˈfutbol arxenˈtino]) is the governing body of football in Argentina. It organises the Primera División and lower divisions (from Primera B Nacional to Torneo Argentino C), the Argentine Cup, Supercopa Argentina and the Argentina national football team.

The association is based in the city of Buenos Aires. Secondly, it also organizes the amateur leagues for women, children, youth, Futsal, and other local leagues, as well as the national women's team.

History

The Argentine Association Football League (in English) was founded on 21 February 1893 by Alexander Watson Hutton, considered "the father" of Argentine football.[4] The Argentine Association is the oldest in South America and one of the oldest to be formed outside Europe. In 1906 Florencio Martínez de Hoz became the first Argentine-born President of the Association.[5]

In 1912 the president of Gimnasia y Esgrima de Buenos Aires, Ricardo Aldao, broke up with the association establishing an own league, the Federación Argentina de Football which organized a parallel tournament. Some teams moved to the FAF were Gimnasia y Esgrima, Independiente, Estudiantes de La Plata and Atlanta. The league lasted until 1914 when rejoining Asociación Argentina de Football forming a unique league for the 1915 season.

The second dissident league was formed in 1919 and named Asociacion Amateurs de Football, organizing its own championships (as FAF had done) until 1926 when it merged to official association. The dissident league included some of the most prominent teams such as River Plate, Racing, Independiente and San Lorenzo, with the exception of Boca Juniors that remained in the official "Asociación Argentina de Football".

When both leagues merged for the 1927 season, the association was again renamed to "Asociación Amateur Argentina de Football" until the professionalization of the sport in 1931 when it switched to "Liga Argentina de Football". The first round of the recently created professional championship was on 31 May 1931.[1][6]

Despite football turning professional in Argentina, some clubs wanted to remain amateur so they formed a new league, the "Asociación de Football Amateur y Profesionales", which organized a parallel tournament until 1934 when the dissident association merged with LAF on 3 November 1934 to form the "Asociación del Football Argentino" which has remained since.[1][7]

Names

The body has been renamed several times since its establishment in 1893, in most of cases translating into Spanish the original British names. The list of names is the following:[8]

  • Argentine Association Football League (1893-1903)
  • Argentine Football Association (1903–12)
  • Asociación Argentina de Football (1912–27)
  • Asociación Amateur Argentina de Football (1927–31)
  • Asociación de Football Amateurs y Profesionales (1931–34)
  • Asociación del Football Argentino 5 (1934–present)

Competitions

Official association

The list of official competitions organized by the Argentine Football Association since its creation in 1893 are:[9][10]

Current competitions
Name Time
Primera División 1891–present [lower-alpha 1]
Copa Argentina 1969-70, 2011–present [lower-alpha 2]
Supercopa Argentina [lower-alpha 3] 2012–present
Copa Campeonato (Superfinal) [lower-alpha 4] 2013–present
Defunct competitions
Copa de Honor Municipalidad de Buenos Aires 1905-36
Copa de Competencia Jockey Club 1913-33
Copa de Competencia La Nación 1913-14
Copa Dr. Carlos Ibarguren 1913-58
Copa Estímulo 1920-26
Copa Adrián C. Escobar 1939-49
Copa Gral. P. Ramírez [lower-alpha 5] 1943-45
Copa de Competencia Británica George VI 1944-48
Copa Suecia [lower-alpha 6] 1958
Copa Centenario de la AFA [lower-alpha 7] 1993

Dissident associations

The following table include competitions organized by dissident associations.[10]

Other competitions
Name Time Association
Copa de Competencia (AAm) 1920-26 Asociación Amateurs de Football
Copa de Competencia (LAF) 1932-33 Liga Argentina de Football
Copa Adrián Beccar Varela 1932-33 Liga Argentina de Football

Presidents

Notes
  • 1 Interventor.
  • 2 Director.
  • 3 Expelled by the Argentine military dictatorship.
  • 4 When football became professional in Argentina, the teams that wanted to remain amateur formed this league that organized its own tournaments from 1931 to 1934, when it merged with the professional body, being all of its teams relegated to second division.[16]
  • 5 Then translated into Spanish as "Asociación del Fútbol Argentino" in 1946.

Notes

  1. The 1891 edition was organized by a precedent association, The Association Argentine Football, dissolved at the end of the season.[11]
  2. The Copa Argentina was re-launched in 2011.[12]
  3. Contested by the champions of the Argentine Primera División and Copa Argentina.
  4. Once Inicial and Final tournaments have finished, both winners have to play a match named Superfinal. The association had determined that the first edition (played in 2013) would be considered as a Primera División official title (2012-13 season), therefore Vélez Sársfield awarded its 10th. official championship after defeating Newell's.[13] Nevertheless, from the 2014 edition it was determined that the Superfinal would not be considered as a Primera División title but an official cup.[14]
  5. Also known as "Campeonato de la República", it received the name "Copa General de División Pedro Pablo Ramírez", due to the trophy had been donated by de facto President of Argentina, Pedro P. Ramírez.
  6. Held once to keep league teams in readiness while the 1958 FIFA World Cup was being played.
  7. Held once to celebrate the 100th. anniversary of the Association.[15]

References

External links


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