The 2002 Categoría Primera A season was the 54th season of Colombia's top-flight football league.
Format Starting from this year, the General Assembly of DIMAYOR approved the expansion of the tournament from 16 to 18 teams, adding to the league two of the three DIMAYOR "A-class" associates who were taking part of the Categoría Primera B at the time through a special promotion tournament. In addition to this, the league started awarding two championships per season, thus making the Apertura and Finalización tournaments independent championships within a single season.
For both the Apertura and Finalización tournaments, the 18 teams were first divided into three groups of six teams, playing five games, and then all teams in the league played each other once for a total of 22 matches. The semifinal round was played by the best eight teams at the end of the 22 matches, who were divided into two groups of four teams each according to their position at the end of the first stage: odd-ranked teams made up Group A, while even-ranked ones made up Group B. The winners of each group played the finals to decide the champions of each tournament.
Torneo Apertura The Torneo Apertura (officially the 2002 Copa Mustang I for sponsorship reasons) was the first tournament of the season. The tournament began on 3 February and ended on 19 June.
First stage
Standings
Semifinals Group A Standings
Results
Group B Standings
Results
Finals DateCityHomeScoreAwayJune 16CaliAmérica de Cali2–1Atlético NacionalJune 19MedellínAtlético Nacional0–1América de CaliAmérica de Cali won 3–1 on aggregate score.
Top goalscorers Rank Name Club Goals 1 Luis ZuletaUnión Magdalena 13 2 José HerreraUnión Magdalena 12 Jorge AgudeloAtlético Nacional 12 4 Carlos CastilloDeportivo Cali 11 Leonardo Mina PoloDeportivo Cali 11 Carlos VilareteUnión Magdalena 11 7 Wilson CarpinteroAtlético Bucaramanga 9 Giovanni HernándezDeportivo Cali 9 Léider PreciadoOnce Caldas 9
Torneo Finalización The Torneo Finalización (officially the 2002 Copa Mustang II for sponsorship reasons) was the second tournament of the season. It began on 7 July and ended on 22 December.
First stage
Standings
Semifinals
Group A Standings
Results
Group B Standings
Results
Finals DateCityHomeScoreAwayDecember 18MedellínIndependiente Medellín2–0Deportivo PastoDecember 22PastoDeportivo Pasto1–1Independiente MedellínIndependiente Medellín won 3–1 on aggregate score.
Top goalscorers Rank Name Club Goals 1 Orlando BallesterosAtlético Bucaramanga 13 Milton RodríguezDeportivo Pereira 13 3 Léider PreciadoDeportivo Cali 11 Pablo JaramilloDeportivo Pasto 11 5 Ricardo CicilianoDeportes Tolima 10 Jairo PatiñoDeportivo Pasto 10
Aggregate table An aggregate table including all games that a team played during the year was used to determine berths to both the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana. The best-placed non-champion qualified for the 2003 Copa Libertadores along with both champions of the season, while the second and third best-placed non-champions qualified for the 2003 Copa Sudamericana.
Relegation TeamRelegation 1 América de Cali 132 221 2 Deportivo Cali 132 221 3 Santa Fe 132 207 4 Once Caldas 132 205 5 Atlético Nacional 132 193 6 Deportes Tolima 132 188 7 Millonarios 132 180 8 Deportivo Pasto 132 176 9 Junior 132 173 10 Independiente Medellín 132 172 11 Envigado 132 170 12 Cortuluá 132 165 13 Deportivo Pereira 132 159 14 Unión Magdalena 132 154 15 Atlético Bucaramanga 132 154 16 Deportes Quindío 132 153 17 Atlético Huila 132 142 18 Real Cartagena 132 142 Relegated to the Categoría Primera B Rules for classification: 1st average; 2nd wins; 3rd goal difference; 4th number of goals scored; 5th away goals scored.
References
External links Dimayor official website Colombia 2002 RSSSF