Copa Perú

The Copa Perú is a football tournament in Peru. Despite its name, it is not entirely an elimination-cup competition, but rather a series of league tournaments done within a year whose ultimate level is an elimination round. It guarantees its winner promotion to the professional First Division and its runner-up promotion to the promotional Second Division.

History

In 1966, the First Division was named Descentralizado; teams from outside the capital of Lima were allowed to participate in the professional first division. The following year, the Copa Perú began, in which all non-professional teams in Peru were allowed to compete, with the winner to gain promotion to the First Division. After playing many elimination rounds, once six teams were left in the competition, they played in a final round-robin tournament in Lima.

In 1984, the First Division grew from 16 to 44 teams: after the first stage of the season, a Regional Championship qualified the teams for the Decentralizado, with 16 to 18 teams. The Copa Perú qualified teams for the Regional competition. Following this the tournament declined; 1987 was the last year in which a final was contested. The competitions was suspended as a result of the lack of interest and general economic crisis going on during President Alan García's first term. In 1992 the First Division returned to its normal format (16 teams). In 1993 the Copa Perú was returned as a competition for the Second Division, but only for teams outside of Lima. Since 1993 there has also been a Second Division for teams competing that are based in Lima.

In 1998, a major change took place: eight teams from the regional stage qualified for the Finals stage. This was played as a traditional cup tournament with home and away legs being played. The winner gains promotion to the First Division. In 2004, the tournament widened to 16 teams, so that teams from Lima could also compete. The winner and runner-up of the Second Division played in the Round of 16 of the Copa Peru. However, in 2006 this format was abolished as now the winner of the Second Division is promoted to the First Division. In 2008, the National Stage was modified. The four teams that qualified for the semi-finals played in a final group stage; the top two were promoted to the First Division.

In 2009, the Peruvian Football Federation officialized the creation of the Ligas Superiores del Peru. The Ligas Superiores will group to a select group of clubs of each department, that will be faced only among itself and will throw a champion and a runner-up that will agree directly, for now, to play a home run against the clubs that remain first and second in the Departmental Stage. For 2009, nine Departmental Confederacies had adopted them: Arequipa, Ayacucho, Cajamarca, Huánuco, Lambayeque, Pasco, Piura, Puno and Tumbes.

Format

The first stage of the tournament is the District Stage which is played between February and May. Districts hold a small league tournament to determine its winners which will qualify for the next stage. The second stage is the Provincial Stage which is played between June and July. The District winners play in groups and the winners qualify for the Departmental Stage. Another league tournament, between July and September, is played between the qualified teams which narrows down the tournament to two teams per department and four teams from Lima. These teams play in the Regional Stage which takes place between September and October.

In the Regional Stage there are eight regions. This stage narrows the tournament to 16 teams which will play two knockout rounds and the semifinalists will conclude the tournament with a group stage in Lima. The top two will qualify for the First Division.

Regions

For the development of the championship, the Peruvian Football Federation has divided the Peruvian territory into eight regions:

• Region I: It conformed by teams of the departments of Amazonas, Tumbes, Piura and Lambayeque.
• Region II: It conformed by teams of the departments of Ancash, Cajamarca, San Martín and La Libertad.
• Region III: It conformed by teams of the departments of Loreto, and Ucayali.
• Region IV: It conformed by teams of the departments of Lima and Callao
• Region V: It conformed by teams of the departments of Huánuco, Pasco and Junín.
• Region VI: It conformed by teams of the departments of Ica, Huancavelica and Ayacucho
• Region VII: It conformed by teams of the departments of Arequipa, Moquegua and Tacna.
• Region VIII: It conformed by teams of the departments of Cusco, Madre de Dios, Puno and Apurímac.

To the year 2008, the league of the Department of Ica was included inside the Region VI, having been transferred to the region IV in the 2009.

Stages

The tournament has 5 stages. The Copa Peru started with the District Stage (Spanish: Etapa Distrital) on February. The next stage was the Provincial Stage (Spanish: Etapa Provincial) which started, on June. The tournament continued with the Departamental Stage (Spanish: Etapa Departamental) on July. The Regional Staged followed. The National Stage (Spanish: Etapa Nacional) started on November.

Champions

Titles by club

Titles by region

External links

• (Spanish) Peru FA
• (Spanish) RSSSF