Argentine Football Association

History

The Argentine Association Football League (in English) was founded on 21 February 1893 by Alexander Watson Hutton, considered "the father" of Argentine football. The Argentine Association is the oldest in South America and one of the oldest outside Europe. In 1906, Florencio Martínez de Hoz became the first Argentine-born president of the association.

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.

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.

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.

After some meetings to put an end to the conflict, both candidates agreed to have another election in June 2016.

In June 2016, AFA president Luis Segura was charged with "aggravated administrative fraud". Segura has been replaced on an interim basis by the AFA's executive secretary, Damián Dupiellet.

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. 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.

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. In March 2020, AFA dissolved the Superliga and took over the Primera División again.

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:

• Argentine Association Football League (1893–1903)
• 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)

;Notes

Current staff

:

• 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

Competitions

Official Competitions

The list of official competitions organized by the Argentine Football Association since its creation in 1893 are:

;Notes

Dissident Competitions

The following table include competitions organized by dissident associations.

;Notes

Presidents

Official Association

Dissident Associations

;Notes

References

References

1. "SITIO OFICIAL DE LA ASOCIACIÓN DEL FÚTBOL ARGENTINO".
2. [https://www.tycsports.com/afa/la-nueva-afa-con-seis-vicepresidentes-20200318.html La nueva AFA] {{Webarchive. link. (2020-07-26 on TyC, 18 Mar 2020)
3. [https://www.pagina12.com.ar/46737-el-futbol-que-viene-asomando El fútbol que viene asomando] {{Webarchive. link. (2023-02-27 by Gustavo Veiga, Página/12, 28 Jun 2017)
4. [https://www.pagina12.com.ar/52914-la-superliga-dio-el-puntapie-inicial La Superliga dio el puntapié inicial] {{Webarchive. link. (2023-02-27 , Página/12, 28 Jul 2017)
5. [https://www.infobae.com/deportes/2020/02/26/reunion-clave-en-el-futbol-argentino-tapia-recibio-a-los-principales-dirigentes-de-primera-con-la-idea-de-ponerle-fin-a-la-superliga/ Reunión clave en el fútbol argentino: Tapia recibió a los principales dirigentes de Primera con la idea de ponerle fin a la Superliga] {{Webarchive. link. (2020-07-26 on Infobae, 26 Feb 2020)
6. [http://edant.clarin.com/suplementos/especiales/2003/02/21/l-520200.htm "La historia de una casa poderosa"] {{Webarchive. link. (2015-04-13 , ''Clarín'', 21 Feb 2003)
7. [http://canchallena.lanacion.com.ar/1266332-campeones-del-bicentenario "Campeones del Bicentenario"] {{Webarchive. link. (2015-04-16 , ''[[La Nación]]'', 2010-5-18)
8. [https://archive.today/20070310141756/http://www.ole.clarin.com/jsp/v4/pagina.jsp?pagId=1205537 Diario Ole – "Bodas de Brillante"]
9. [http://canchallena.lanacion.com.ar/1851035-elecciones-en-afa-tinelli-segura-en-vivo-ezeiza "Escándalo: la elección en la AFA salió empatada por un error y ahora Segura y Tinelli analizan unirse"] {{Webarchive. link. (2015-12-12 , ''La Nación'', 3 Dec 2015)
10. [http://www.clarin.com/deportes/futbol/Papelon-escandalo-elecciones-AFA-asambleistas_0_1478852688.html "Historia de un papelón: con 75 asambleístas hubo 76 votos"] {{Webarchive. link. (2016-03-23 , ''Clarín'', 3 Dec 2015)
11. (27 June 2016). "FIFA to oversee Argentinean FA after FIFA Council member charged – Sports Integrity Initiative".
12. (26 June 2016). "Ousted Argentine Football Association President attacks FIFA for taking over crisis-hit organisation".
13. [https://www.lanueva.com/nota/2017-2-24-18-28-0-la-afa-aprobo-la-creacion-de-la-superliga-y-la-rescision-de-futbol-para-todos La AFA aprobó la creación de la Superliga] {{Webarchive. link. (2019-02-17 , La Nueva, 24 Feb 2017)
14. [https://www.lanacion.com.ar/1890871-la-creacion-de-la-liga-argentina-genera-una-division-de-grandes-y-chicos-en-afa La creación de la Liga Argentina] {{Webarchive. link. (2019-02-17 by Fernando Czyz on ''La Nación'', 19 Apr 2016)
15. "SITIO OFICIAL DE LA ASOCIACIÓN DEL FÚTBOL ARGENTINO".
16. [https://www.afa.com.ar/es/pages/comite-ejecutivo Comité ejecutivo] {{Webarchive. link. (2019-07-11 , ''AFA'')
17. [https://www.clarin.com/deportes/seleccion-nacional/funciones-menotti-director-selecciones-nacionales_0_wL1yMzHOo.html Qué funciones tendrá Menotti como Director de Selecciones Nacionales] {{Webarchive. link. (2019-01-16 , ''Clarín'', 14 Jan 2019)
18. [https://es.fifa.com/worldcup/news/cesar-luis-menotti-sera-director-de-selecciones-en-argentina César Luis Menotti será Director de Selecciones en Argentina] {{Webarchive. link. (2019-06-29 on FIFA.com, 14 Jan 2019)
19. "SITIO OFICIAL DE LA ASOCIACIÓN DEL FÚTBOL ARGENTINO".
20. "Argentina – Domestic Cup History".
21. "Argentina 1891".
22. [https://archive.today/20120717024206/http://notio.com.ar/deportes/en-medio-de-las-polemicas-grondona-lanzo-la-copa-argentina-12672 "En medio de las polémicas, Grondona lanzó la Copa Argentina" on Notio.com.ar] 19 May 2011
23. [https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/argcuphist.html AFA Centenary Cup] {{Webarchive. link. (2023-02-02 on RSSSF)
24. ""Vélez venció a Newell's y es el Supercampeón", ''Clarín'', 29 Dec 2013".
25. ""La AFA homologó la final de River como una copa nacional", Cancha Llena, 28 May 2014".
26. [http://www.clarin.com/deportes/futbol/claudio-chiqui-tapia-recibio-aprobacion-conmebol-listo-electo-afa_0_BJhdWuYne.html Claudio Chiqui Tapia fue electo presidente casi sin oposición y comienza una nueva era] {{Webarchive. link. (2017-03-29 , ''Clarín'', 29 Mar 2017)
27. "Argentina 1934 (amateur)".