Argentine Football Association
Template:Short description Template:Pp-move Template:Infobox football association
The Argentine Football Association (Template:Langx, Template:IPA; AFA) is the governing body of football in Argentina based in Buenos Aires. It organises the main divisions of Argentine league system (from Primera División to Torneo Regional Federal and Torneo Promocional Amateur), including domestic cups: Copa Argentina, Supercopa Argentina, Trofeo de Campeones de la Liga Profesional and the Supercopa Internacional. The body also manages all the Argentina national teams, including the Senior, U-20, U-17, U-15, Olympic and women's squads. Secondly, it also organizes the women's, children, youth, futsal, and other local leagues.
The AFA also organised all the Primera División championships from 1893 to 2016–17. From the 2017–18 season the "Superliga Argentina", an entity which was administered independently and had its own statute, took over the Primera División championships.<ref name=asoma>El fútbol que viene asomando Template:Webarchive by Gustavo Veiga, Página/12, 28 Jun 2017</ref> Nevertheless, the Superliga was contractually linked with the main football body.<ref>La Superliga dio el puntapié inicial Template:Webarchive, Página/12, 28 Jul 2017</ref> The last championship organised by the Superliga was 2019–20, shortly after the season ended the body was dissolved.<ref name=finsuperliga>Reunión clave en el fútbol argentino: Tapia recibió a los principales dirigentes de Primera con la idea de ponerle fin a la Superliga Template:Webarchive on Infobae, 26 Feb 2020</ref>
History
The Argentine Association Football League (in English) was founded on 21 February 1893 by Alexander Watson Hutton, considered "the father" of Argentine football.<ref>"La historia de una casa poderosa" Template:Webarchive, Clarín, 21 Feb 2003</ref> The Argentine Association is the oldest in South America and one of the oldest to be formed outside Europe. In 1906, Florencio Martínez de Hoz became the first Argentine-born president of the association.<ref>"Campeones del Bicentenario" Template:Webarchive, La Nación, 2010-5-18</ref>
In 1912, the president of Gimnasia y Esgrima (BA), Ricardo Aldao, broke up with the association, establishing an own league, the "Federación Argentina de Football" which organized a parallel tournament. Some teams moved to the FAF were Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP), Independiente, Estudiantes (LP) and Atlanta. The league lasted until 1914 when rejoining Asociación Argentina de Football, forming a unique league for the 1915 season.
The second dissident league was formed in 1919 and named "Asociación Amateurs de Football", organizing its own championships (as FAF had done) until 1926 when it merged to the official association. The dissident league included some of the most prominent teams, such as River Plate, Racing, Independiente and San Lorenzo, with the exception of Boca Juniors that remained in the official "Asociación Argentina de Football".
When both leagues merged for the 1927 season, the association was again renamed to "Asociación Amateur Argentina de Football" until the professionalization of the sport in 1931 when it switched to "Liga Argentina de Football". The first round of the recently created professional championship was on 31 May 1931.<ref name=orig/><ref>Diario Ole – "Bodas de Brillante"</ref>
Despite football turning professional in Argentina, some clubs wanted to remain amateur, so they formed a new league, the "Asociación de Football Amateur y Profesionales", which organized a parallel tournament until 1934 when the dissident association merged with LAF on 3 November 1934 to form the "Asociación del Football Argentino" which has remained since.<ref name=orig/><ref>Historia del Fútbol Amateur en la Argentina, by Jorge Iwanczuk. Published by Autores Editores (1992) – Template:ISBN</ref>
In 2015, during the presidential elections to elect a new president for the body, there were two candidates to occupy Julio Humberto Grondona's chair, Marcelo Tinelli –who wanted a change in how things were going, like eliminating corruption between some clubs and the AFA– and Luis Segura, who had taken charge after Grondona's death, with the intention of extending his mandate.
With 75 presidents of different Argentine clubs voting, on election day something went wrong when the final count resulted in a draw of 38 to 38 (76 votes in total). The explanation given was that one of the electors put a double vote and that mistake was not reported. As a result, the executive committee decided to postpone the election.<ref>"Escándalo: la elección en la AFA salió empatada por un error y ahora Segura y Tinelli analizan unirse" Template:Webarchive, La Nación, 3 Dec 2015</ref>
After some meetings to put an end to the conflict, both candidates agreed to have another election in June 2016.<ref>"Historia de un papelón: con 75 asambleístas hubo 76 votos" Template:Webarchive, Clarín, 3 Dec 2015</ref>
In June 2016, AFA president Luis Segura was charged with "aggravated administrative fraud".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Segura has been replaced on an interim basis by the AFA's executive secretary, Damián Dupiellet.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2017, the association approved the creation of a new entity, named "Superliga Argentina de Fútbol", which would take over the organization of the Primera División championship.<ref>La AFA aprobó la creación de la Superliga Template:Webarchive, La Nueva, 24 Feb 2017</ref> The main European football leagues such as the English Premier League or the Spanish La Liga, that are organized by associations dedicated exclusively to those championships and run as separate entities from their respective National Associations, served as inspiration for the creation of the Superliga.<ref>La creación de la Liga Argentina Template:Webarchive by Fernando Czyz on La Nación, 19 Apr 2016</ref>
The 2016–17 Primera División championship was the last tournament organized by the AFA. Starting with the 2017–18 season to 2019–20 season, the "Superliga Argentina", an entity administered by itself with its own statute, organised Primera División championships.<ref name=asoma/> In March 2020, AFA dissolved the Superliga and took over the Primera División again.<ref name=finsuperliga/>
Names
The body has been renamed several times since its establishment in 1893, in most of the cases translating the original English names to Spanish. The list of names is the following:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Argentine Association Football League (1893–1903) Template:Refn
- Argentine Football Association (1903–1912)
- Asociación Argentina de Football (1912–1927)
- Asociación Amateur Argentina de Football (1927–1931)
- Asociación de Football Amateurs y Profesionales (1931–1934)
- Asociación del Fútbol Argentino (1934–present) Template:Refn
- Notes
Current staff
Template:As of:<ref>Comité ejecutivo Template:Webarchive, AFA</ref>
- President: Claudio Tapia
- Vice-presidents:
- Jorge Amor Ameal (Boca Juniors)
- Rodolfo D'Onofrio (River Plate)
- David Garzón (Huracán)
- Carlos Montaña (Def. de Belgrano)
- Guillermo Raed (C.A. Mitre)
- General Secretary: Víctor Blanco
- Treasurer: Pablo Toviggino
- Executive Secretary: Luís M. Chebel
- Men's senior head coach: Lionel Scaloni
- Men's U-20 head coach: Diego Placente
- Women's head coach: Carlos Borrello
- National teams General Director: César Luis Menotti<ref>Qué funciones tendrá Menotti como Director de Selecciones Nacionales Template:Webarchive, Clarín, 14 Jan 2019</ref><ref>César Luis Menotti será Director de Selecciones en Argentina Template:Webarchive on FIFA.com, 14 Jan 2019</ref>
Competitions
Official Competitions
The list of official competitions organized by the Argentine Football Association since its creation in 1893 are:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=argcup>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Notes
Dissident Competitions
The following table include competitions organized by dissident associations.<ref name=argcup/>
| Other competitions | ||
| Name | Time | Association |
|---|---|---|
| Copa de Competencia (AAm) | 1920–1926 | Asociación Amateurs de Football |
| Copa Presidente de la Nación | 1920–1926 | Asociación Amateurs de Football Template:Refn |
| Copa de Competencia (LAF) | 1932–1933 | Liga Argentina de Football |
| Copa Adrián Beccar Varela | 1932–1933 | Liga Argentina de Football |
- Notes
Presidents
Template:Col-begin Template:Col-3
Official Association
| Asociación del Fútbol Argentino | |
| Period | President/s |
|---|---|
| 1893–1896 | Alexander Watson Hutton |
| 1897–1898 | Alfredo P. Boyd |
| 1899 | Charles Wibberley |
| 1900–1905 | Frank Chevallier Boutell |
| 1906 | Florencio Martínez de Hoz |
| 1907–1908 | Emilio Hansen |
| 1909–1914 | Hugo Wilson |
| 1915–1917 | Adolfo Orma |
| 1918–1919 | Ricardo Aldao |
| 1919–1921 | Federico Luzio |
| 1921–1922 | Benjamin Toulouse |
| 1922–1924 | Aldo Cantoni |
| 1924–1926 | Virgilio Tedin Uriburu |
| 1926 | Natalio Botana |
| 1927–1929 | Adrián Beccar Varela |
| 1929–1932 | Juan Pignier |
| 1932 | Carlos Anessi |
| 1932–1933 | Silvio Serra |
| 1933–1934 | José Claisse |
| 1934 | Alejandro Russo |
| 1934 | Tiburcio Padilla |
| 1935 | Ernesto F. Malbec |
| 1936 | Ángel Molinari |
| 1937–1938 | Eduardo Sánchez Terrero |
| 1939–1940 | Adrián Escobar |
| 1941–1943 | Ramón Castillo |
| 1944 | Jacinto Armando |
| 1945 | Agustín Nicolás Matienzo |
| 1946 | Eduardo J. Avalos |
| 1947 | Pedro Canaveri |
| 1948–1949 | Oscar Nicolini |
| 1949 | Cayetano Giardulli |
| 1950–1953 | Valentín Suárez |
| 1954–1955 | Domingo Peluffo |
| 1955 | Cecilio Conditi |
| 1956 | Arturo Bullrich Template:Refn |
| 1957–1965 | Raúl Colombo |
| 1966 | Francisco Perette |
| 1967–1968 | Valentin Suárez Template:Refn |
| 1968 | Armando Ramos Ruiz Template:Refn |
| 1969 | Aldo J. Porri Template:Refn |
| 1969 | Oscar L. Ferrari Template:Refn |
| 1969–1971 | Juan Oneto Gaona Template:Refn |
| 1971–1973 | Raúl D'Onofrio Template:Refn |
| 1973 | Horacio Bruzzone Template:Refn |
| 1973–1974 | Baldomero Gigan Template:Refn |
| 1974 | Fernando Mitjans Template:RefnTemplate:Refn |
| 1974–1976 | David Bracuto Template:Refn |
| 1976–1979 | Alfredo Cantilo |
| 1979–2014 | Julio Grondona |
| 2014–2016 | Luis Segura |
| 2016–2017 | Armando Pérez Template:Refn |
| 2017–present | Claudio Tapia<ref>Claudio Chiqui Tapia fue electo presidente casi sin oposición y comienza una nueva era Template:Webarchive, Clarín, 29 Mar 2017</ref> |
Dissident Associations
| Federación Argentina de Football | |
| Period | President/s |
|---|---|
| 1912–1914 | Ricardo Aldao |
| Asociación Amateurs de Football | |
| Period | President/s |
|---|---|
| 1919 | Juan Mignaburu |
| 1920–1926 | Adrián Beccar Varela |
| Liga Argentina de Football Template:Refn | |
| Period | President/s |
|---|---|
| 1931 | Julio Planisi |
| 1932–1934 | Eduardo Larrandart |
| 1934 | Tiburcio Padilla |
- Notes
References
External links
- Template:Official website
- Argentina at FIFA site (archived 3 June 2007)
Template:Football in Argentina Template:CONMEBOL associations Template:South American football Template:Sports governing bodies in Argentina Template:Authority control Template:Coord