 | |
| Organising body | DIMAYOR |
|---|---|
| Founded | 15 August 1948; 77 years ago (1948-08-15) |
| Country | Colombia |
| Confederation | CONMEBOL |
| Number of clubs | 20 |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| Relegation to | Categoría Primera B |
| Domestic cups | |
| International cup(s) | Copa Libertadores Copa Sudamericana |
| Current champions | Santa Fe (10th title) (2025–I) |
| Most championships | Atlético Nacional (18 titles) |
| Most appearances | Gabriel Berdugo (733) |
| Top scorer | Dayro Moreno (252 goals) |
| Broadcaster(s) | Win Sports,Win+ Fútbol |
| Website | dimayor |
| Current:2025 season | |
TheCategoría Primera A (Spanish pronunciation:[kateɣoˈɾi.apɾiˈmeɾaˈa]), commonly referred to asLiga BetPlay Dimayor due tosponsorship by online betting companyBetPlay,[1] is a professionalassociation football league inColombia and the highest level of theColombian football league system.
A total of twenty clubs compete in the league's regular season.División Mayor del Fútbol Profesional Colombiano, better known asDIMAYOR, organizes the competition and operates the league system of promotion and relegation for both Categoría Primera A andCategoría Primera B leagues. Since its foundation in 1948, sixteen teams have been crowned as Colombian football champions.[2] The most successful club isAtlético Nacional with 18 titles. The league was ranked as the 11th strongest national league in the world at the end of 2023 by theInternational Federation of Football History & Statistics.[3]
Before 1948 there was no professional football league in Colombia. The first clubs were formed inBarranquilla andBogotá:Barranquilla FC,Polo Club,Escuela Militar andBartolinos, although the game took a while to develop in popularity.[4] The1918 Campeonato Nacional was the first tournament played between Colombian clubs, followed by theCopa Centenario Batalla de Boyacá.Independiente Medellín, founded on 15 April 1913, is the oldest club that remains as a professional club.[5]Thefirst tournament was organised by theColombian Football Federation andDIMAYOR in 1948. Ten teams signed up for this first tournament, paying the required fee of 1,000pesos). Two teams each signed on fromBogotá,Cali,Manizales, andPereira, plus one fromBarranquilla.[6] 252 players were registered for that year's tournament, 182 of which were Colombians, 13 were Argentine, 8 Peruvian, 5 Uruguayan, 2 Chilean, 2 Ecuadorian, 1 Dominican, and 1 Spanish.[6]
Soon after the league's foundation, disputes between Adefútbol (the body governing amateur football in Colombia) and DIMAYOR (the organizing body behind the new national league) erupted. DIMAYOR broke away from Adefútbol, announcing that it would operate independently of FIFA rules and regulations. In response, FIFA sanctioned Colombian football, banning thenational team and all its clubs from international competition. This period, which lasted from 1949 to 1954, is known asEl Dorado.
Far from being a dark time in Colombian football, this was its golden age. No longer required to pay transfer fees to clubs from other nations, Colombian clubs began importing stars from all over South America and Europe. The most aggressive signer of international players wasMillonarios, which won consecutive championships with stars such asAlfredo di Stéfano. Attendances boomed, and the expanding appetite for club competitions resulted in the creation of theCopa Colombia in 1950. That knockout competition was played sporadically over the next 58 years and only became an annual tournament in 2008.[7] Although the stars returned to their nations when Colombia rejoined the international fold in 1954, the era was never forgotten.[8]
In 1968 the league started following the pattern emerging in South America by replacing its year-long tournament with two shorter ones. From this point forward, Colombian clubs would compete in two tournaments a year; theApertura from February to June and theFinalización from July to December, which became independent championships in 2002. Another league restructuring came in 1991, with the addition ofsecond andthird divisions. The third division had its 2002 edition cancelled for economic reasons, and stopped awarding promotion to the professional tiers in 2003 until it was finally dropped in 2010.
The current format of Colombian football was adopted for the2019 season. The top flight features 20 teams, all of which play through the Apertura and Finalización tournaments each year. Both tournaments are conducted according to an identical three-stage format, and have been independent title-awarding tournaments since2002.
The first stage is conducted on a single round-robin basis, with each team playing the other teams once for a total of 19 matches, although an extra round of regional derbies has been included in most seasons. The top eight teams then advance to a semi-final round consisting of two groups of four teams, each team playing the others in their group twice in a double round-robin format. The two group winners advance to the final, which is played in a home-and-away double-legged fashion.
Relegation toCategoría Primera B is determined by averaging the point totals achieved by teams in the first stage of the competition over the previous three seasons. Each year, the bottom two teams drop out and are replaced by the top two from Primera B.[9]
Teams for the 2025 season
This is the complete list of the clubs that have taken part in at least oneCategoría Primera A season, founded in 1948, until the 2025 season.[10] Teams that currently play are indicated in bold.
The same trophy has been used to commemorate the Primera A champions since 1948. Made of German silver, weighing roughly 5 kilos and measuring approximately 90 centimeters tall, in its upper part it has the figure of theWinged Victory of Samothrace, which has been used to represent sporting triumph with the passing of history. The original trophy, which is engraved with the names of all the champion clubs, is kept at the headquarters of DIMAYOR and is only exhibited for fixture draws or events with sponsors, with the champions being awarded an exact replica.[11] Along with the competition's official trophy, the champions are also awarded an additional trophy handed over by the league's sponsor.[12] Starting from 2020, a new trophy commissioned by league sponsor BetPlay started to be presented to the champions instead of the original one.[13]
| Rank | Player | Years | Appearances |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Gabriel Berdugo | 1968–1984 | 733[15][16] |
| 2 | Alexis García | 1980–1998 | 723 |
| 3 | Arturo Segovia | 1963–1979 | 706 |
| 4 | Jorge Bermúdez | 1989–96, 2005, 2006–07 | 682 |
| 5 | Misael Flórez | 1962–1981 | 652 |
| Rank | Player | Years | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dayro Moreno | 2003–present | 252[18] |
| 2 |  Sergio Galván Rey | 1996–2011 | 224[19] |
| 3 | Iván Valenciano | 1988–2009 | 217 |
| 4 | Hugo Lóndero | 1969–1981 | 211 |
| 5 | Oswaldo Palavecino | 1975–1985 | 204 |
| 6 | Jorge Ramírez Gallego | 1962–1975 | 201 |
| 7 | Omar Devani | 1962–1975 | 200 |
| 8 | Víctor Aristizábal | 1990–2007 | 187 |
| 9 | Arnoldo Iguarán | 1977–1997 | 186 |
| 10 | Willington Ortiz | 1972–1988 | 184 |
The only tournament that was not awarded to a champion occurred in1989, after the assassination of refereeÁlvaro Ortega on October 1 inMedellín. All games, post-season games and international representation for the following year were cancelled.[20][21]
Source for champions and runners-up by season: RSSSF[10]
| Rank | Club | Winners | Runners-up | Winning years | Runners-up years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Atlético Nacional | 18 | 12 | 1954, 1973, 1976, 1981, 1991, 1994, 1999, 2005–I, 2007–I, 2007–II, 2011–I, 2013–I, 2013–II, 2014–I, 2015–II, 2017–I, 2022–I, 2024–II | 1955, 1965, 1971, 1974, 1988, 1990, 1992, 2002–I, 2004–I, 2004–II, 2018–I, 2023–I |
| 2 | Millonarios | 16 | 10 | 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1972, 1978, 1987, 1988, 2012–II, 2017–II, 2023–I | 1950, 1956, 1958, 1967, 1973, 1975, 1984, 1994, 1995–96, 2021–I |
| 3 | América de Cali | 15 | 7 | 1979, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1996–97, 2000, 2001, 2002–I, 2008–II, 2019–II, 2020 | 1960, 1969, 1987, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2008–I |
| 4 | Deportivo Cali | 10 | 14 | 1965, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1974, 1995–96, 1998, 2005–II, 2015–I, 2021–II | 1949, 1962, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1985, 1986, 2003–II, 2006–I, 2013–II, 2017–I |
| Junior | 10 | 10 | 1977, 1980, 1993, 1995, 2004–II, 2010–I, 2011–II, 2018–II, 2019–I, 2023–II | 1948, 1970, 1983, 2000, 2003–I, 2009–I, 2014–I, 2015–II, 2016–I, 2019–II | |
| Santa Fe | 10 | 7 | 1948, 1958, 1960, 1966, 1971, 1975, 2012–I, 2014–II, 2016–II, 2025–I | 1963, 1979, 2005–I, 2013–I, 2017–II, 2020, 2024–I | |
| 7 | Independiente Medellín | 6 | 13 | 1955, 1957, 2002–II, 2004–I, 2009–II, 2016–I | 1959, 1961, 1966, 1993, 2001, 2008–II, 2012–II, 2014–II, 2015–I, 2018–II, 2022–II, 2023–II, 2025–I |
| 8 | Once Caldas | 4 | 2 | 1950, 2003–I, 2009–I, 2010–II | 1998, 2011–II |
| 9 | Deportes Tolima | 3 | 9 | 2003–II, 2018–I, 2021–I | 1957, 1981, 1982, 2006–II, 2010–II, 2016–II, 2021–II, 2022–I, 2024–II |
| 10 | Deportivo Pasto | 1 | 3 | 2006–I | 2002–II, 2012–I, 2019–I |
| Deportes Quindío | 1 | 2 | 1956 | 1953, 1954 | |
| Cúcuta Deportivo | 1 | 1 | 2006–II | 1964 | |
| Atlético Bucaramanga | 1 | 1 | 2024–I | 1996–97 | |
| Unión Magdalena | 1 | — | 1968 | — | |
| Boyacá Chicó | 1 | — | 2008–I | — | |
| Deportivo Pereira | 1 | — | 2022–II | — |
Source:RSSSF
| National teams | |
|---|---|
| League competitions | |
| Domestic cups | |
| Defunct competitions | |
