Argentine Football Association

The Argentine Football Association (, ; AFA) is the governing body of football in Argentina based in Buenos Aires. It organises the main divisions of Argentine league system (from Primera División to Torneo Regional Federal and Torneo Promocional Amateur), including domestic cups: Copa Argentina, Supercopa Argentina, Trofeo de Campeones de la Liga Profesional, and the Supercopa Internacional. The body also manages all of Argentina's national teams, including the Senior, U-20, U-17, U-15, Olympic, and women's squads. It also organizes the women's, children, youth, futsal, and other local leagues.

The AFA also organised all the Primera División championships from 1893 to 2016–17. From the 2017–18 season, the "Superliga Argentina", an entity which was administered independently and had its own statute, took over the Primera División championships.El fútbol que viene asomando by Gustavo Veiga, Página/12, 28 Jun 2017 Nevertheless, the Superliga was contractually linked with the main football body.La Superliga dio el puntapié inicial , Página/12, 28 Jul 2017 The last championship organised by the Superliga was 2019–20; shortly after the season ended the body was dissolved.Reunión clave en el fútbol argentino: Tapia recibió a los principales dirigentes de Primera con la idea de ponerle fin a la Superliga on Infobae, 26 Feb 2020

History The Argentine Association Football League (in English) was founded on 21 February 1893 by Alexander Watson Hutton, considered "the father" of Argentine football."La historia de una casa poderosa" , Clarín, 21 Feb 2003 The Argentine Association is the oldest in South America and one of the oldest outside Europe. In 1906, Florencio Martínez de Hoz became the first Argentine-born president of the association."Campeones del Bicentenario" , La Nación, 2010-5-18

In 1912, the president of Gimnasia y Esgrima (BA), 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 (LP), Independiente, Estudiantes (LP) 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 "Asociación Amateurs de Football", organizing its own championships (as FAF had done) until 1926 when it merged to the 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.

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.

In 2015, during the presidential elections to elect a new president for the body, there were two candidates to occupy Julio Humberto Grondona's chair, Marcelo Tinelli –who wanted a change in how things were going, like eliminating corruption between some clubs and the AFA– and Luis Segura, who had taken charge after Grondona's death, with the intention of extending his mandate.

With 75 presidents of different Argentine clubs voting, on election day something went wrong when the final count resulted in a draw of 38 to 38 (76 votes in total). The explanation given was that one of the electors put a double vote and that mistake was not reported. As a result, the executive committee decided to postpone the election."Escándalo: la elección en la AFA salió empatada por un error y ahora Segura y Tinelli analizan unirse" , La Nación, 3 Dec 2015

After some meetings to put an end to the conflict, both candidates agreed to have another election in June 2016."Historia de un papelón: con 75 asambleístas hubo 76 votos" , Clarín, 3 Dec 2015

In June 2016, AFA president Luis Segura was charged with "aggravated administrative fraud". Segura has been replaced on an interim basis by the AFA's executive secretary, Damián Dupiellet.

In 2017, the association approved the creation of a new entity, named "Superliga Argentina de Fútbol", which would take over the organization of the Primera División championship.La AFA aprobó la creación de la Superliga , La Nueva, 24 Feb 2017 The main European football leagues such as the English Premier League or the Spanish La Liga, that are organized by associations dedicated exclusively to those championships and run as separate entities from their respective National Associations, served as inspiration for the creation of the Superliga.La creación de la Liga Argentina by Fernando Czyz on La Nación, 19 Apr 2016

The 2016–17 Primera División championship was the last tournament organized by the AFA. Starting with the 2017–18 season to 2019–20 season, the "Superliga Argentina", an entity administered by itself with its own statute, organised Primera División championships. In March 2020, AFA dissolved the Superliga and took over the Primera División again.

In 2026, FIFA opened disciplinary proceedings against the AFA and its players for a series of alleged breaches at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Names The body has been renamed several times since its establishment in 1893, in most of the cases translating the original English names to Spanish. The list of names is the following:

Argentine Association Football League (1893–1903) Argentine Football Association (1903–1912) Asociación Argentina de Football (1912–1927) Asociación Amateur Argentina de Football (1927–1931) Asociación de Football Amateurs y Profesionales (1931–1934) Asociación del Fútbol Argentino (1934–present)

Notes

Current board :Comité ejecutivo , AFA

President: Claudio Tapia Vice-presidents: Jorge Amor Ameal (Boca Juniors) Rodolfo D'Onofrio (River Plate) David Garzón (Huracán) Carlos Montaña (Def. de Belgrano) Guillermo Raed (C.A. Mitre) General Secretary: Víctor Blanco Treasurer: Pablo Toviggino Executive Secretary: Luís M. Chebel Men's senior head coach: Lionel Scaloni Men's U-20 head coach: Diego Placente Women's head coach: Carlos Borrello National teams General Director: César Luis MenottiQué funciones tendrá Menotti como Director de Selecciones Nacionales , Clarín, 14 Jan 2019César Luis Menotti será Director de Selecciones en Argentina on FIFA.com, 14 Jan 2019

Competitions Official Competitions The list of official competitions organized by the Argentine Football Association since its creation in 1893 are:

Current competitions Name Organised Primera División 1891, 1893–2017, 2020–present Primera B 1899–present Primera C 1900–present Copa Argentina 1969–1970, 2011–present Primera Nacional 1986–present Primera División (Futsal) 1986–present Primera División A (Women´s) 1991–present Primera División B (Futsal) (es) 1998–present Torneo del Interior (Women´s) (es) 2012–present Supercopa Argentina 2012–present Torneo Federal A 2014–present Primera División C (Futsal) 2014–present Primera División B (Women`s) 2016–present Primera División D (Futsal) 2017–present Torneo Regional Federal 2018–present Liga Nacional de Futsal Argentina (es) 2018–present Primera División C (Women´s) 2019–presentTrofeo de Campeones de la Liga Profesional 2020–present Copa Federal de Fútbol Femenino (es) 2021–present Supercopa Internacional 2022–present Torneo Promocional Amateur 2024–present Copa de Honor Municipalidad de Buenos Aires 1905–1936 Copa de Competencia Jockey Club 1913–1933 Copa de Competencia La Nación 1913–1914 Copa Dr. Carlos Ibarguren 1913–1958 Copa Estímulo 1920–1926 Copa Presidente de la Nación 1927–1989 Copa Adrián C. Escobar 1939–1949 Campeonato de la República Copa Gral Pedro Ramírez 1943–1945 Copa de Competencia Británica 1944–1948 Primera D 1950–2023 Copa Suecia 1958 Torneo Regional 1967–1986 Torneo del Interior (es) 1986–1995 Copa Centenario de la AFA 1993 Torneo Argentino A 1995–2014 Torneo Argentino B 1995–2014 Torneo Argentino C 2005–2014 Torneo Nacional de Futsal (es) 2008–2017 Copa Campeonato 2013–2014 Torneo Federal B 2014–2017 Torneo Federal C (es) 2015–2018 Copa Bicentenario 2016Copa de la Liga Profesional2020–2024

Notes

Dissident Competitions The following table include competitions organized by dissident associations.

Other competitions Name Time Association Copa de Competencia (AAm) 1920–1926 Asociación Amateurs de Football Copa Presidente de la Nación 1920–1926 Asociación Amateurs de Football Copa de Competencia (LAF) 1932–1933 Liga Argentina de Football Copa Adrián Beccar Varela 1932–1933 Liga Argentina de Football Notes

Presidents

Official Association Asociación del Fútbol Argentino Period President/s 1893–1896 Alexander Watson Hutton 1897–1898 Alfredo P. Boyd 1899 Charles Wibberley 1900–1905 Frank Chevallier Boutell 1906 Florencio Martínez de Hoz 1907–1908 Emilio Hansen 1909–1914 Hugo Wilson 1915–1917 Adolfo Orma 1918–1919 Ricardo Aldao 1919–1921 Federico Luzio 1921–1922 Benjamin Toulouse 1922–1924 Aldo Cantoni 1924–1926 Virgilio Tedin Uriburu 1926 Natalio Botana 1927–1929 Adrián Beccar Varela 1929–1932 Juan Pignier 1932 Carlos Anessi 1932–1933 Silvio Serra 1933–1934 José Claisse 1934 Alejandro Russo 1934 Tiburcio Padilla 1935 Ernesto F. Malbec 1936 Ángel Molinari 1937–1938 Eduardo Sánchez Terrero 1939–1940 Adrián Escobar 1941–1943 Ramón Castillo 1944 Jacinto Armando 1945 Agustín Nicolás Matienzo 1946 Eduardo J. Avalos 1947 Pedro Canaveri 1948–1949 Oscar Nicolini 1949 Cayetano Giardulli 1950–1953 Valentín Suárez 1954–1955 Domingo Peluffo 1955 Cecilio Conditi 1956 Arturo Bullrich 1957–1965 Raúl Colombo 1966 Francisco Perette 1967–1968 Valentin Suárez 1968 Armando Ramos Ruiz 1969 Aldo J. Porri 1969 Oscar L. Ferrari 1969–1971 Juan Oneto Gaona 1971–1973 Raúl D'Onofrio 1973 Horacio Bruzzone 1973–1974 Baldomero Gigan 1974 Fernando Mitjans 1974–1976 David Bracuto 1976–1979 Alfredo Cantilo 1979–2014 Julio Grondona 2014–2016 Luis Segura 2016–2017 Armando Pérez 2017–present Claudio TapiaClaudio Chiqui Tapia fue electo presidente casi sin oposición y comienza una nueva era , Clarín, 29 Mar 2017

Dissident Associations Federación Argentina de Football Period President/s 1912–1914 Ricardo Aldao

Asociación Amateurs de Football Period President/s 1919 Juan Mignaburu 1920–1926 Adrián Beccar Varela

Liga Argentina de Football Period President/s 1931 Julio Planisi 1932–1934 Eduardo Larrandart 1934 Tiburcio Padilla

Notes

References

External links

Argentina at FIFA site (archived 3 June 2007)