History of the Torneo Descentralizado
The Torneo Descentralizado is the national Peruvian professional league for
The tournament was established in 1966 following the decision of the Peruvian Football Federation to create a national football championship which had not existed since Peruvian football competitions for clubs were first organized in the early twentieth century. Since 1966, a total of 10 clubs have been crowned national champions. Sporting Cristal is the most successful club, winning seventeen national titles. Only three clubs outside the Lima Province have won a national championship, the first being Unión Huaral (2 titles), the second being Melgar (2 titles), and the third being Juan Aurich (1).
History
Peruvian football was not played at a national level since the first football leagues were formed in the early twentieth century. Football was played regionally, with
The
The second edition of Peru's new national football championship was played in the same manner as the first edition; 14 teams and each team playing 26 matches. Juan Aurich of Chiclayo was the fifth countryside team to participate in the Descentralizado. Universitario successfully defended their title. In the Torneo Descentralizado's third edition, Juan Aurich notably tied with Sporting Cristal at the end of the season for first place. The championship was to be defined in a single playoff match in the Estadio Nacional. Sporting Cristal won the playoff 21 but Juan Aurich, as runner-up, qualified for the Copa Libertadores. In the Descentralizado's fourth season, the tournament format was modified. The tournament was played in two stages. The first stage had each team playing all the other teams once. In the second stage, the top 6 teams advanced to a championship group with the national title in dispute and the bottom 8 teams advanced to a relegation group where the bottom two teams were relegated at the end of the season. Universitario won the 1969 season for their third Descentralizado title and Defensor Arica qualified to their first and only Copa Libertadores.
The
Following Peru's elimination in the
As in 1970, Peru's participation in the
In 1982, Peru was to compete in the 1982 FIFA World Cup and consequently, the season was played similarly to 1978. A minor tournament was played in the months leading up to the World Cup which was won by Sporting Cristal. The 1982 Torneo Descentralizado began on July 18—one week after the World Cup final. The season was divided into several group stages and Universitario won its sixth national title, 2 points ahead of rival Alianza Lima in the final group stage. Melgar came close to winning the 1983 season but the victor was Sporting Cristal, tying Universitario in national titles for 6 each. For the 1983 Torneo Descentralizado, the season was played in two stages with 17 teams. The top 6 teams at the end of the first stage advanced to a final group stage which was won by Sporting Cristal, after Melgar failed to maintain their first stage lead. The following season was played with 25 teams divided into four region-based groups. Fourteen teams advanced from the regional group stages into the 1984 Torneo Descentralizado which was Sport Boys first season as national champion. Universitario won a 7th championship in 1985.
In 1986,
The 1992 Torneo Descentralizado reduced the team number to 16 and season finals would not be played until 1997. Universitario won back-to-back titles with the 1992 and 1993 tournaments. Sporting Cristal made history winning three seasons consecutively from 1994 to 1996. In 1997 the Apertura and Clausura tournament formats were employed in the Descentralizado. Alianza Lima returned to the top of Peruvian football after winning the 1997 season—a first since 1978. Alianza won both tournaments to become national champion. Between 1998 and 2000, Universitario would repeat Sporting Cristal's feat, winning 3 consecutive titles. The 1998 season was won after defeating Cristal in a penalty shootout in the final, whilst the 1999 season was won against Alianza Lima on aggregate score.
The 2001 season marked Alianza's and Cienciano's centenary and both teams reached the finals. Alianza Lima won their 5th national title after defeating Cienciano in a penalty shootout. Despite notably winning the 2001 Torneo Apertura, Alianza placed 10th in the Torneo Clausura which forced a rule change for 2002. A Torneo Apertura winner had to place above 5th place in the Torneo Clausura and vice versa in order for a tournament champion to dispute the final. Universitario won the 2002 Torneo Apertura but they placed 11th in the Torneo Clausura. Therefore, the championship went to the Torneo Clausura winner Sporting Cristal. 2003 and 2004 were won by Alianza Lima. Both times saw Alianza defeat Cristal in the final. In 2005 and 2006, Cienciano returned to Peruvian finals, however failed to win them after losing 1–0 to Cristal in 2005 and eliminated on aggregate to Alianza Lima in 2006.
In 2007, a new champion rose to fame as
Competition format and sponsorship
Domestic
The 2011 season will be played by 16 teams. The season runs from February to December and will be played in two stages. The first stage is a regular season where each teams plays 30 home-and-away fixtures. The second stage is a final play-off to decide the national champion between the teams that place first and second in the first stage. The fixtures will be played on the weekends on Saturdays and Sundays and some fixtures will be played on Wednesdays. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, then
Period (in years) | No. of clubs |
---|---|
1966–1970 | 14 clubs |
1971–1972 | 16 clubs |
1973 | 18 clubs |
1974 | 22 clubs |
1975 | 18 clubs |
1976–1982 | 16 clubs |
1983 | 17 clubs |
1984 | 25 clubs |
1985–1987 | 30 clubs |
1988 | 37 clubs |
1989 | 42 clubs |
1990 | 44 clubs |
Period (in years) | No. of clubs |
---|---|
1991 | 41 clubs |
1992–1996 | 16 clubs |
1997 | 14 clubs |
1998–2003 | 12 clubs |
2004 | 14 clubs |
2005 | 13 clubs |
2006–2007 | 12 clubs |
2008 | 14 clubs |
2009–2014 | 16 clubs |
2015 | 17 clubs |
2016–2018 | 16 clubs |
International
Six teams will participate in international competitions while they play the national championship. These international club fixtures take place during the week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. During the first half of the year, three teams will participate in the 2011 Copa Libertadores. Universidad San Martín and León de Huánuco will start in the second stage and Alianza Lima will start in the first stage. During the second half of the year, three teams will participate in the 2011 Copa Sudamericana. Universitario will start in the second stage while Universidad César Vallejo and Juan Aurich will both start off in the first stage.
South American qualification
South America has two international competitions played every year. For 2011, Peru will have six berths, three in the Copa Libertadores and three in the Copa Sudamericana. The two Peruvian finalists of the season will qualify directly to the second stage of the Copa Libertadores. The third berth will be given to the third-placed team at the end of the season. This team will start in the first stage of the Copa Libertadores. Teams placed fourth through sixth will qualify to the Copa Sudamericana.
Sponsorship
The Torneo Descentralizado is sponsored by Movistar TV (formerly known as Cable Mágico), hence the commercial name Copa Movistar. They have had exclusive broadcasting rights since 1999. In 2007 DirecTV began competing with Cable Mágico for broadcasting rights of a few teams and currently holds the rights to two teams—
Total titles won
Total title won by region
Region | Number of titles | Clubs |
---|---|---|
Lima | 46 | San Agustín (1)
|
Arequipa | 2 | Melgar (2) |
Callao | 1 | Sport Boys (1) |
Lambayeque | 1 | Juan Aurich (1) |
References
- ^ "2010" (in Spanish). ADFP. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
Antes de cada partido, los Clubes presentan al árbitro una planilla de 18 jugadores, en la cual se pueden incluir hasta cuatro (4) jugadores extranjeros