The 2016 Argentine Torneo Federal A was the 3rd season of the third tier of the Argentine football league system. The tournament is reserved for teams indirectly affiliated to the Asociación del Fútbol Argentino (AFA), while teams affiliated to AFA have to play the Primera B Metropolitana, which is the other third tier competition. The champion was promoted to Primera B Nacional. 35 teams are competing in the league, 30 returning from the 2015 season, 4 teams that were relegated from Primera B Nacional, 3 teams promoted from Federal B. Also 2 teams resigned their participation in this season: 9 de Julio (M) and Unión (MdP) alleging economic difficulties.9 de Julio de Morteros no jugará el Federal A 2016FEDERAL A: Unión de Mar del Plata dejará de competir profesionalmente The regular season began on February 7 and ended on June 26.
Format
First stage The teams were divided into seven zones with five teams (a total of 35 teams) in each zone and it was played in a round-robin tournament whereby each team played each one of the other teams three times. The teams placed 1º and 2º and the two best 3º team from the seven zones qualified for the Second Stage.
Championship stages The sixteen teams that qualified from the First Stage played against each other in a Double-elimination tournament from second to the fifth stage. The qualified teams were seeded in the final stages according to their results in the first stage, with the best eight seeded 1–8, and the worst eight teams seeded 9–16. The winning team was promoted to the Primera B Nacional.
Relegation Stage After the first stage was played, a table was drawn with the thirty five (35) clubs and its overall standings with points obtained in the First Stage. The two last teams will be relegated to Torneo Federal B.
Club information
Zone A Team City Stadium Cipolletti Cipolletti La Visera de Cemento Deportivo Madryn Puerto MadrynColiseo del Golfo Deportivo Roca General RocaLuis Maiolino Independiente NeuquénJosé Rosas y Perito Moreno Villa Mitre Bahía BlancaEl Fortín
Zone B Team City Stadium Deportivo Maipú Maipú Higinio Sperdutti Gimnasia y Esgrima Mendoza Víctor Antonio Legrotaglie Gutiérrez General Gutiérrez General Gutiérrez Sportivo Belgrano San Francisco Oscar Boero Unión Villa Krause12 de Octubre
Zone C Team City Stadium Alvarado Mar del Plata (None) 1 Defensores de Belgrano Villa Ramallo Salomón Boeseldín Ferro Carril Oeste General PicoEl Coloso del Barrio Talleres General Belgrano Santa RosaNuevo Rancho Grande Tiro Federal Bahía Blanca Onofre Pirrone 1 Play their home games at Estadio José María Minella.
Zone D Team City Stadium Altos Hornos ZaplaPalpaláEmilio Fabrizzi Gimnasia y Tiro Salta Gigante del Norte Juventud Antoniana Salta Fray Honorato Pistoia San Lorenzo CatamarcaBicentenario Ciudad de Catamarca Unión Aconquija AconquijaMunicipal de Aconquija
Zone E Team City Stadium ConcepciónConcepciónStewart Shipton Güemes Santiago del Estero Arturo Miranda Mitre Santiago del Estero Doctores José y Antonio Castiglione San Jorge San Miguel de Tucumán Senador Luis Cruz San Martín San Miguel de Tucumán La Ciudadela
Zone F Team City Stadium Chaco For EverResistencia Juan Alberto García Guaraní Antonio Franco Posadas Clemente F. de Oliveira Sarmiento ResistenciaCentenario Sol de América Formosa(None)1 Sportivo Patria Formosa Antonio Romero 1 Play their home games at Estadio Antonio Romero.
Zone G Team City Stadium Defensores Pronunciamiento Delio Cardozo Gimnasia y Esgrima Concepción del Uruguay Manuel y Ramón Núñez Libertad Sunchales Hogar de Los Tigres Sportivo Las Parejas Las Parejas Fortaleza del Lobo Unión Sunchales La Fortaleza
First stage
Zone A
Results
Matches 1–10 Teams played each other twice, once at home, once away.
Matches 11–15 Teams played every other team once (either at home or away).
Zone B
Results
Matches 1–10 Teams played each other twice, once at home, once away.
Matches 11–15 Teams played every other team once (either at home or away).
Zone C
Results
Matches 1–10 Teams played each other twice, once at home, once away.
Matches 11–15 Teams played every other team once (either at home or away).
Zone D
Results
Matches 1–10 Teams played each other twice, once at home, once away.
Matches 11–15 Teams played every other team once (either at home or away).
Zone E
Results
Matches 1–10 Teams played each other twice, once at home, once away.
Matches 11–15 Teams played every other team once (either at home or away).
Zone F
Results
Matches 1–10 Teams played each other twice, once at home, once away.
Matches 11–15 Teams played every other team once (either at home or away).
Zone G
Results
Matches 1–10 Teams played each other twice, once at home, once away.
Matches 11–15 Teams played every other team once (either at home or away).
Ranking of third-placed teams
Relegation
Second to Fifth stage
Second stage
Third stage
Fourth stage
Fifth stage
Season statistics
Top scorers RankPlayerClubGoals1 Matías ZbrunLibertad (S)132 Gustavo BalvorínJuventud Antoniana123 Ramón LentiniSan Martín (T)11 Diego MartínezUnión Aconquija4 Unión AconquijaJuventud Antoniana105 Williams PeraltaMitre (SdE)9
See also 2016 Primera B Nacional 2015–16 Copa Argentina
References
External links Sitio Oficial de AFA Ascenso del Interior Solo Ascenso Mundo Ascenso Promiedos