The Argentine football league system include tournaments organised by the Argentine Football Association. Clubs affiliated to the body compete in the tournaments, which are split into categories or divisions.
Contents
Rules establish a system of promotion and relegation, a process where teams are transferred between two divisions based on their performance for the completed season. The best-ranked team or teams in the lower division are promoted to the higher division for the next season, and the worst-ranked team or teams in the higher division are relegated to the lower division for the next season.
History
Tournaments organised by the Association and its predecessors have been held since 1893 (the year when the current AFA was established). Nevertheless, the first championship was organised by the Argentine Association Football League in 1891. The body dissolved that same year but the current association included the 1891 in its list of championships.
Only clubs directly affiliated to AFA had taken part in tournaments organised by the body, until the creation of Primera B Nacional in 1986 when teams from regional leagues added to the competition.
The following chart details all league competitions organised by the Argentine Association (National cups are not included):
Current system (2016–17)
The following chart details the current competitions organised by the Argentine Association:
Below the second division championship (Primera B Nacional) tournaments leagues are split between two groups, the first of them include the promotion/relegation system for clubs directly affiliated to the Association playing in Primera B Metropolitana, Primera C and Primera D. Those are usually called "zona metropolitana" (metropolitan zone) due to those tournaments have been historically played by teams from the city of Buenos Aires and Greater Buenos Aires, plus the addition of some clubs from Rosario, Santa Fe, La Plata and other cities of Buenos Aires Province.
The second group is formed clubs not directly affiliated to AFA that play in regional leagues, under the supervision of "Consejo Federal de Fútbol", dependent on the AFA. Competitions reserved for those clubs are Torneo Federal A, Torneo Federal B and Torneo Federal C.