Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano

Countries	Bolivia
Confederation	CONMEBOL
Founded	August 23, 1977
Number of teams	12
Relegation to	Regional Leagues
Level on pyramid	Level 1
International cup(s)	Copa Libertadores Copa Sudamericana
Current champions	Blooming (Torneo Clausura 2009)
Most championships	Bolívar (16 titles)
Website	www.lfpb.org
2009 LFPB

Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano is the top-flight professional football (soccer) league in Bolivia. It started in 1977, though football had been played in Bolivia since the early 1900s, specifally in La Paz and Oruro.

An amateur league (which became semi-pro in 1950) started in La Paz in 1914, the LPFA (La Paz Football Association, which is currently called the Asociacion de Futbol de La Paz), the first association of soccer in Bolivia. The LPFA was considered for many years the top soccer tournament in the country.

Founded in 1925, the Federación Boliviana de Fútbol didn't organize a national championship until 1960. These championships included representatives of all regional associations, although the LPFA had also included representatives of Oruro and Cochabamba in its championships. Despite this cup being considered the top Bolivian football championship, the LPFA league was still considered the most competitive one.

The creation of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano ended the distinction. It also resulted in the creation of three separate entities: the FBF's role was restricted to the international representation of Bolivia in the sport, the newly created LPFB became the organizer of the sole 1st Division tournament, and the LPFA, together with the rest of the regional associations, became the organizer of the Second (and lower) division regionalized tournaments.

It's the first and currently the only professional sports league in the country.

[edit] Overview

The championship format has changed over the years. Beginning in 1977, the league ran with sixteen clubs divided into two series, but switched to fourteen clubs in two series playing two tournaments each year beginning in the mid 80's and economical problems with some teams led to another cut in the number of participants to twelve in 1991. Another change came in 2005 when teams decided to adapt to the International FIFA calendar, meaning the season would be played from August to June rather than from February to December, in order to avoid problems defining which teams would qualify for international tournaments. The league played a short tournament from February to June in 2005, and the official 2005-06 season started in August. This led to yet another problem — second division teams weren't keen on the idea of putting off relegation until June 2006. After negotiations, the league determined that relegation of the lowest standing club would take place after the completion of the Apertura tournament, making the Bolivian league an odd tournament where teams were relegated in the middle of the season. But this decision was overturned in November 2006 and the league switched back to a calendar-year season in 2007 starting with the Apertura tournament in March 2007.

Historically, teams from La Paz, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz have dominated the league. Until 2007 only San José won the league in 1995, but since then teams from the "big three" have struggled to win the league again and 3 teams from smaller cities have won it (Real Potosí, San José and Universitario).

Four teams share the record of never been relegated to "La Simón Bolivar" (2nd division): Jorge Wilstermann, The Strongest, Oriente Petrolero and Bolívar (although they were relegated in 1969 before the LPFB era).

[edit] Current Competition System

For the 2008 season, and for the first time, three tournaments were played instead of the usual two. The Apertura tournament was played from March to July on a Round-Robin system; the Clausura tournament played from August to October where the teams were divided into two series of 6 teams each, Group A composed of all western teams (plus Universitario) and Group B composed of all eastern teams (plus Wilstermann and Aurora), the top two teams of each group advanced to the semifinals and the finals. The newly instated Play-off tournament consisted of home-away matches (and with away goals rule used for the first time).

An average points from the previous two seasons determines relegation, with the last placed teams being directly relegated to its regional division and replaced by the winner of the Simon Bolivar cup. With the 11th placed team playing a promotion play-off with the runner-up of the Simon Bolivar Cup

[edit] Current teams (2009 season)

[edit] List of champions

[edit] Federación Boliviana de Fútbol Championships (Torneo Nacional)

[edit] Federación Boliviana de Fútbol Championships (Copa Simón Bolívar)

[edit] Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano

[edit] Titles by team (professional era: 1977-present)

[edit] Notes

[edit] List of all-time topscorers

This is the list of the 15 all-time topscorer since the Bolivian league was established in 1977. Goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of February 2009.

#	Name	Nationality	Career	Goals
1.	Víctor Hugo Antelo		1983 - 2000	350
2.	Juan Carlos Sánchez		1979 - 1992	263
3.	Luis Fernando Salinas		1980 - 1993	201
4.	Jesús Reynaldo		1977 - 1993	196
5.	Raúl Horacio Baldessari		1977 - 1989	161
6.	Limberg Gutiérrez		1997 - present	149
7.	Joaquín Botero		1997 - present	144
8.	Cristino Jara		1998 - present	141
9.	Silvio Edmundo Rojas		1977 - 1992	140
10.	Luis William Ramallo		1982 - 1999	138
11.	Juan Berthy Suárez		1990 - 2000	135
12.	Erwin Romero		1977 - 1992	134
13.	Carlos Fernando Borja		1977 - 1995	129
=	Arturo García		1983 - 1999	129
15.	Jorge Hirano		1986 - 1992	124

[edit] External links

• RSSSF List of Champions
• RSSSF Topscorers