| Countries | Paraguay |
|---|---|
| Confederation | CONMEBOL |
| Founded | 1906 |
| Number of teams | 12 |
| Levels on pyramid | 1 |
| Relegation to | Segunda División |
| International cup(s) | Copa Libertadores Copa Sudamericana |
| Current champions | Olimpia (2011 Clausura) |
| Most championships | Olimpia (39 titles) |
| Website | APF |
| 2011 season | |
The División Profesional de la Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol (English: Professional Division of the Paraguayan Football Association), also known as the Primera División (English: First Division), or due to sponsorship reasons Copa TIGO, is the top-flight professional football league in Paraguay. Currently, there are 12 teams in the first division.
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Liga Paraguaya's first game was played in 1906, after the director of the El Diario newspaper, Don Adolfo Riquelme, brought to his office on June 18, 1906, the representatives of the five existing football teams in Paraguay at that time (Olimpia, Guaraní, Libertad, General Díaz, and Nacional) to create the governing body of football in Paraguay: the Liga Paraguaya de Fútbol (known today as Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol). The representatives were William Paats and Junio Godoy (Olimpia) Ramón Caballero, Manuel Bella and Salvador Melián (Guaraní), Juan Escalada (Libertad), César Urdapilleta (General Díaz), and Vicente Gadea (Nacional).[1] The Liga Paraguaya saw Club Guaraní as the first champion in 1906, after defeating Olimpia in the final.
The Paraguayan Football Association joined CONMEBOL in 1921, and FIFA in 1925. The professional era of the competition in the Liga started in 1941.
During the 1990s, the FA changed its denomination from Liga Paraguaya del Futbol to Asociacion Paraguaya de Futbol.
A new rule was introduced in 2008, stating that there will be two champions each year corresponding to the winners of the two tournaments played during the season, the Apertura (or "Opening Tournament) and Clausura (Closing Tournament).[2] This replaces the old system in which the Paraguayan Football Association divided its championships into two sections, the Torneo Apertura and Torneo Clausura. The winners of each tournament staged a playoff to decide each year's national champion. If the same team won both stages, it automatically won the national championship.
The team with the worst average points over the last three years is automatically relegated to the Paraguayan Division Intermedia, and the second-worst team plays a playoff match against the second division runner-up. The winner of the playoff match plays in the first division the following year.
Starting 2010, Paraguay will have six slots in international cups (three in the Copa Libertadores de America and three in the Copa Sudamericana). These six slots will be filled by five teams.
In the Copa Libertadores, the winner of the Apertura and Clausura tournaments qualify automatically. The third representative (going into the first round play-off) is the best placed non-champion from the cumulative table of both the Apertura and Clausura. In the Copa Sudamericana, the champion of the Apertura and Clausura with the highest point cumulative goes in automatically, along with the 4th and 5th best placed teams from the Apertura and Clausura cumulatives.
The following are the teams in the first division in 2012:
| Team | Home city | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cerro Porteño | Asunción | General Pablo Rojas | 32,000 |
| Cerro Porteño PF | Presidente Franco | Cerro Porteño | 5,000 |
| Deportivo Carapeguá | Carapeguá | Teniente Primero Alcides González | 6,500 |
| Guaraní | Asunción | Rogelio Livieres | 6,000 |
| Independiente | Asunción | Rogelio Livieres | 6,000 |
| Libertad | Asunción | Dr. Nicolás Leoz | 10,000 |
| Nacional | Asunción | Arsenio Erico | 4,000 |
| Olimpia | Asunción | Manuel Ferreira | 15,000 |
| Rubio Ñu | Asunción | La Arboleda | 5,000 |
| Sol de América | Villa Elisa | Luis Alfonso Giagni | 5,000 |
| Sportivo Luqueño | Luque | Feliciano Cáceres | 25,000 |
| Tacuary | Asunción | Roberto Béttega | 7,000 |
| Team | Nº of titles | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Olimpia | 39 | 1912, 1914, 1916, 1925, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1947, 1948, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1965, 1968, 1971, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2011 Clausura |
| Cerro Porteño | 28 | 1913, 1915, 1918, 1919, 1935, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1944, 1950, 1954, 1961, 1963, 1966, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2009 Apertura |
| Libertad | 15 | 1910, 1917, 1920, 1930, 1943, 1945, 1955, 1976, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008 Apertura, 2008 Clausura, 2010 Clausura |
| Guaraní | 10 | 1906, 1907, 1921, 1923, 1949, 1964, 1967, 1969, 1984, 2010 Apertura |
| Nacional | 8 | 1909, 1911, 1924, 1926, 1942, 1946, 2009 Clausura, 2011 Apertura |
| Sol de América | 2 | 1986, 1991 |
| Sportivo Luqueño | 2 | 1951, 1953 |
| Presidente Hayes | 1 | 1952 |
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