| Trofeo de la Copa Libertadores (Spanish) Troféu da Taça Libertadores (Portuguese) |
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The current Copa Libertadores Trophy, awarded to the Copa Libertadores champions since 2009 |
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| Awarded for | Winning the Copa Libertadores |
| Presented by | CONMEBOL |
| First awarded | 1960 (original) 2009 (Current) |
| Currently held by | Santos |
| Official website | CONMEBOL.com |
The Copa Libertadores trophy, or simply the Copa or Libertadores, is a trophy awarded annually by CONMEBOL to the football club that wins the Copa Libertadores. The concept of having a standard Cup awarded to the winner was thought of by Teófilo Salinas, a boardmember of CONMEBOL, and it was his initiative that led to the creation of one of the most prized awards of the world. The original trophy was created in 1959 by Alberto de Gasperi, an Italian immigrant, who owned an artisan shop in Lima, Peru; the prestigious memento was forged in the Camusso Jewelry workshop, located on Colonial Avenue of the same forementioned city.[1]
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Copa Libertadores winners keep the real trophy in their possession. It remains so until the draw and seeding of the next Copa Libertadores begins. Before the proceedings happen, the club president of the defending champion will return the trophy to the president of CONMEBOL and a replica trophy is awarded to the winning club. Winning clubs are also permitted to make exact replicas of their own. A club gets to keep the trophy indefinitely if they win three tournaments in a row.
As well as winning the right to keep the trophy until the start of the next tournament, the winner gets to have a metal badge of gold or silver placed on the wooden pedestal of the trophy. The badge has the name of the winner and the year of the triumph. At the top of the cup, there is a football player getting ready to kick a ball. The top half of the globe beneath him carries the coat of arms of every CONMEBOL nation. The middle bar has "Copa Libertadores" inscripted on it.[2] The non-wooden part of the laurel is made of sterling silver, with the exception of the football player at the top (it is made of bronze with a silver coating).[3]
The original trophy carried room for a mere 18 badges (perhaps as a sign of the little faith its organizers had on the duration of the tournament). The badges would be placed at the top base of the pedestal one underneath another and span six columns. However, 18 editions later the pedestal was filled to capacity and a new pedestal that carried room for 24 badges was installed. The old badges were installed on the new pedestal and the Cup carried room for six more editions. After six years the pedestal was full and a new stand was installed. This new pedestal had room for 28 badges and it was designed to have seven columns of four. A quick solution practiced after the 28 slots were occupied was to put their badges on the bottom edge of the pedestal. The first team to do this was Atlético Nacional.[2]
In 1994, the space at the bottom of the pedestal would have run out. Many people still questioned where did the badges from 1995 to 2003 placed as the trophy did not go through any physical changes since. In 2009, the trophy went through a major renovation as the badges were organized to have nine horizontal columns with vertical rows. The first team to received the current trophy was Estudiantes. The trophy is scheduled to be filled by the 2024 edition.[2]
Two clubs have kept the actual trophy:[4]
The metal badge was implemented on the Cup in order to conovorate the past winners of the title. The former badges carried the year at the top and the club name and nation of the winners side by side i.e. 1960, Peñarol, (URU). The rebranded badges (since 2009) now carries the year of the triumph, the full name of the winning club, the city that the club provenes from and the nation. To the left of that information is the club logo.[2]
A separate "award" was given by Toyota Motor Corporation to the eventual Copa Libertadores champions in the trophy ceremony. A golden salver was introduced in 1998 by Toyota since the competition was primarily sponsored by Toyota Motor Corporation from 1998 to 2008; thus, the competition was known as the Copa Toyota Libertadores. The golden salver contained the competition logo in the middle, "CAMPEON X" at the top (the X representing the edition won) and the logo of Toyota and the word "TOYOTA" at the bottom.[5] Since Toyota stopped being the primary sponsor of the Copa Libertadores, no salver has been awarded to the champions.
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