The 2022 Liga Panameña de Fútbol or 2022 Liga LPF (known as the Liga LPF Tigo for sponsorship reasons) was the 35th season of the Liga Panameña de Fútbol (LPF), the top-flight football league in Panama, and the third under the management of the Liga Panameña de Fútbol. The season began on 4 February 2022, when the Apertura tournament started, and ended on 12 November 2022 with the Clausura tournament Final.
The season was originally scheduled to start on 21 January 2022, but the date was pushed back due to the detection of several COVID-19 cases in the participating clubs.
A total of twelve teams competed throughout the entire season, which was divided into two championships: Torneo Apertura and Torneo Clausura, each of them being an independent championship and crowning its own champion.
Competition format Same as previous years, the season was divided into two championships: Torneo Apertura and Torneo Clausura. Both Apertura and Clausura were played under the same format which consisted in a Classification stage, where the 12 teams were geographically divided into the Eastern and Western Conferences (6 teams per conference); Play-offs, Semifinals and Final.
Within each conference, teams played each other twice on a double round-robin format (home and away). In addition, each team played one game against all the 6 teams in the opposite conference for a total of 16 games per team in the classification stage. Winners of each conference qualified directly to the semi-finals, whilst the second and third placed teams advanced to the play-offs stage.
The Play-offs stage was played on a single-leg format between the second placed team of each conference against the third placed team of the opposite conference, with the second placed teams hosting the matches. Winners of play-offs advanced to semi-finals to play against the first placed team of each conference on a home-and-away two-legged basis. Winners of the semifinals played the final on a single-leg match at a venue and date determined by the LFP, with highest team ranked in the classification stage acting as the "home" team for "administrative purposes.
Teams A total of 12 teams took part in this season; the same ones that played in the previous 2021 season, including San Francisco, which finished in the last place (12th) on the aggregate table of the 2021 season, which meant its relegation to the 2022 Liga Prom season. However, San Francisco was able to stay in the Liga LPF, subject to the payment of a financial penalty, since the champions and runners-up of the 2021 Liga Prom (Alianza FC II and Panamá Oeste) did not meet the requirements of the Liga Panameña de Fútbol to play in the 2022 Liga LPF.
Stadia and locations Team City Stadium CapacityEastern ConferenceAlianzaPanama CityJavier Cruz 700Árabe UnidoColónArmando Dely Valdés 4,000Plaza AmadorPanama CityRommel Fernandez 32,000Javier Cruz 700Potros del EstePanama CityHacienda Country Club 100Sporting San MiguelitoSan MiguelitoLos Andes 1,450TauroPanama CityRommel Fernandez 32,000Western ConferenceAtlético ChiriquíDavidSan Cristóbal 2,890IndependienteLa ChorreraAgustín Sánchez 3,040HerreraLlano BonitoLos Milagros 1,000San FranciscoLa ChorreraAgustín Sánchez 3,040Veraguas UnitedAtalayaAtalaya 500UniversitarioPenonoméVirgilio Tejeira 900
Personnel and kits Team Head coach Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor(s) Alianza Jair Palacios Kevin Melgar Keuka Clinilab Panamá Árabe Unido Julio Dely Valdés Abdiel Macea Kelme BetCha.pa, AguAseo, Kendall Motor Oil Atlético Chiriquí Dayron Pérez Miguel Saavedra Kelme Herrera Alberto Valencia Santiago Cedeño Strik3r Varela Hermanos S.A., Betcris, Gran Hotel Azuero, Hertz Independiente Franklin Narváez César Samudio Fila Altos De La Pradera Plaza Amador Jorge Dely Valdés Ricardo Buitrago Puma Sportium, SPARK Potros del Este Daniel Blanco Edgar Góndola Luanvi UniWorld Air Cargo San Francisco Gary Stempel Francisco Palacios Strik3r Betcha.pa Sporting San Miguelito Felipe Borowsky Adolfo Machado Spirits Teletón 20-30 Tauro Francisco Perlo Edwin Aguilar Patrick Betcha.pa, Universidad del Istmo, KFC Universitario Julio Infante Manuel Torres FB Sports Latin University of Panama Veraguas United Villi Trebino Rolando Algandona Strik3r Betcris, Super Carnes, La Parmigiana
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointmentTorneo AperturaSan Francisco Jorge SantosEnd of caretaker spell20 November 2021Pre-season Gonzalo Soto19 January 2022Sporting San Miguelito Saúl MaldonadoMutual agreement22 November 2021 Felipe Borowsky26 November 2021Veraguas United Isaac JovéEnd of contract4 December 2021 José Anthony TorresJanuary 2022Independiente Francisco PerloSigned by Academia Puerto Cabello8 December 2021 Iván Guerra15 December 2021Árabe Unido Sergio AnguloEnd of contract22 December 2021 Julio Dely Valdés22 December 2021Tauro Kike GarcíaMutual agreement29 December 2021 Rolando Palma30 December 2021Universitario Gary StempelResigned16 February 20226th, Alberto Blanco17 February 2022Veraguas United José Anthony TorresEnd of caretaker spell21 March 20225th, Daniel Lanata22 March 2022Torneo ClausuraVeraguas United Daniel LanataEnd of contract7 May 2022Pre-season Héctor BlancoJuly 2022Independiente Iván GuerraEnd of contract18 May 2022 Franklin Narváez23 May 2022Herrera Julio InfanteSacked20 May 2022 Emmanuel Calleja23 May 2022Universitario Alberto BlancoEnd of contract20 May 2022 Julio Infante23 June 2022Atlético Chiriquí Alberto ValenciaEnd of contract21 May 2022 Dayron PérezJuly 2022Tauro Rolando PalmaSacked11 August 20226th, Francisco Perlo13 August 2022San Francisco Gonzalo SotoMutual agreement28 August 20225th, Gary Stempel29 August 2022Veraguas United Héctor BlancoResigned20 September 20225th, Villi Trebino20 September 2022Herrera Emmanuel CallejaSacked21 September 20226th, Alberto Valencia30 September 2022 Notes
Torneo Apertura The Torneo Apertura began on 4 February and ended on 28 May with the final.
Classification stage
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Results
Bracket
Play-offs
Semi-finals
Alianza won 2–1 on aggregate and advanced to the final.
Sporting San Miguelito won 2–1 on aggregate and advanced to the final.
FInal
Top goalscorers Players sorted first by goals scored, then by last name. Rank Player Club Goals1 Edgar AparicioAtlético Chiriquí7 Víctor ÁvilaIndependiente Ricardo BuitragoPlaza Amador4 Luis ZúñigaSporting San Miguelito6 José FlorezAtlético Chiriquí Sergio CunninghamHerrera7 Ricardo ClarkePlaza Amador5 Alexis CorpasSporting San Miguelito César MedinaAlianza Ángel OrelienPlaza Amador Omar ValenciaTauro
Torneo Clausura The Torneo Clausura began on 22 July and ended on 12 November with the final.
Classification stage
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Results
Bracket
Play-offs
Semi-finals
Independiente won 2–1 on aggregate and advanced to the final.
Universitario won 1–0 on aggregate and advanced to the final.
Final
Top goalscorers Players sorted first by goals scored, then by last name. Rank Player Club Goals1 Joseph CoxUniversitario132 Jorlian SánchezSporting San Miguelito93 Yoameth MurilloPotros del Este74 Dwann OliveiraSporting San Miguelito6 César YanisPotros del Este6 Víctor ÁvilaÁrabe Unido5 Alexis CundumiVeraguas United8 Gabriel BrownÁrabe Unido4 Mario CarmonaUniversitario Gilberto HernándezIndependiente Jhamal RodríguezSan Francisco Ángel SánchezHerrera
External links Liga Panameña de Fútbol LPF 2022
References