The Primera División A[1] (Spanish pronunciation: [pɾiˈmeɾa ðiβiˈsjon a]; English: "First Division A"), known officially as Campeonato Femenino YPF for sponsorship reasons, is a semi-professional women's football league in Argentina. The tournament is ruled by the Argentine Football Association (AFA), with its first season held in 1991.
Since 2016, the tournament has been the highest tier of the Argentine women's football league system following the creation of a second division called Primera División B. It applies a system of promotion and relegation with it, with the teams finishing at the bottom of the annual standings being relegated. Before then, the Primera División A was simply named "Campeonato de Fútbol Femenino", as it was the only women's football tournament in existence.
Teams contesting the championship are mainly from the region of Buenos Aires, which includes the Autonomous city, Greater Buenos Aires and La Plata. There are also teams from Córdoba, San Luis and Santa Fe. Apart from this competition, other regional female leagues exist around Argentina.
Boca Juniors is the most successful club with 28 titles won to date.
The competition was first played in 1991,[2] with 8 teams participating. The first champions were River Plate.[3] Since 2009 the best team of the season wins the right to compete in the Copa Libertadores de Fútbol Femenino.[4]
Since the 2011–12 season, the Association allowed non-affiliate clubs to play in the tournament as guest teams. Therefore Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) and Vélez Sársfield de Mercedes where the first clubs in that condition to take part.
In March 2019, it was announced that the league would become professional from the 2019/20 season. The agreement was signed by President of AFA, Claudio Tapia, and Sergio Marchi (representing the footballers union). The Association committed to give each club AR$ 125,000 for players' salaries. The AFA's facilities can be also used by clubs which don't have a venue to host their home games.[5]
Changes in Argentine women's football also include the creation of a new competition (similar to men's Copa Argentina), named "Fútbol en Evolución", contested by teams all around the country.[6]
For the 2019–20 season (Torneo Rexona), the tournament has three stages, Fase Clasificatoria, Fase Campeonato and Fase Permanencia.
The first stage, "Fase Clasificatoria", is contested by the 17 participating teams. Teams play in a single round-robin tournament. Clubs placed 1st to 8th at the end of the competition, qualify to the next stage ("Fase Campeonato") while the rest nine clubs play the "Fase Permanencia".
The "Fase Campeonato" is contested by the eight qualified teams from the previous stage, playing a double round-robin tournament. The club earning most points at the end of the competition is crowned champion, also qualifying to Copa Libertadores Femenina.
The "Fase Permanencia" is contested by the nine teams placed 9th to 17th in the qualification stage (Clasificatoria). After a double robin tournament, the three worst placed teams are relegated to Primera B (second division).[1]
Clubs registered for the 2024 season:
Below is the list of women's Primera División A champions since the first edition held in 1991.[3] The 2019–20 edition was the only one to be canceled halfway through. This was due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the National Government allowed football competitions to return in October,[7] AFA organised a smaller tournament called Torneo de Transición 2020, which had a shortened format and took place between November 2020 and January 2021.