Sports in Andorra

What sports are played in Andorra?

The Comitè Olímpic Andorrà (COA) lists its member bodies on its federations page and prints no total. The list includes the federations of athletics, basketball, cycling, ice sports, skiing (the Federació Andorrana d'Esquí), football (the Federació Andorrana de Futbol), golf, handball, judo and ju-jitsu, mountaineering, rugby, swimming, shooting, tennis, table tennis, volleyball, triathlon, padel and chess, and also the Automòbil Club d'Andorra, the Federació Motociclista d'Andorra and Special Olympics Andorra.^[3]

El Periòdic d'Andorra reported on 5 March 2026, from figures of the Departament d'Estadística, that “El nombre de llicències esportives federatives al Principat ha arribat a 9.857 durant la temporada 2024-25”. It reported 2,875 federative licences in football and 1,109 in skiing, the latter the highest among individual sports in that report.^[10] Those figures rest on that single newspaper report; the department's own publication could not be retrieved.

What is the most popular spectator sport in Andorra?

No measured ranking of spectator sports in Andorra and no season attendance figure from any league were retrieved. Two proxies were retrieved. The first is registration: in the 2024–25 figures El Periòdic d'Andorra reported from the Departament d'Estadística, football had 2,875 federative licences and skiing 1,109, out of 9,857 in all.^[10]

The second is broadcaster output. The sport page of the public broadcaster, RTVA, as retrieved on 26 September 2026, carried items dated up to that day on football, including the national team and FC Andorra, on MoraBanc Andorra in basketball, and on ice hockey, cycling, canoeing, motor sport, mountain sports and skiing.^[27] On 20 September 2026 RTVA announced: “Aquesta temporada, RTVA va un pas més enllà en la cobertura de la Lliga nacional i oferirà dos partits en directe de cada jornada pels diferents canals d'aquesta casa”, one on the web and one on television.^[29] That is carriage, not an audience measure.

How is sport organised in Andorra?

The law. Sport is governed by the Llei 37/2018, del 20 de desembre, de l'esport del Principat d'Andorra. The text read here is the one the Consell General publishes, bearing the header of the Butlletí Oficial del Principat d'Andorra (BOPA), Núm. 6, of 23 January 2019; it is the original text.^[4][5] The BOPA's own site served no content to the fetch and no consolidated version with its date could be retrieved. Altaveu reported on 20 March 2025 that the Govern had presented a “projecte de llei de modificació de la llei de l'esport”.^[6] Bondia reported on 13 November 2025 that “La Llei de l'esport, per fi, viu una renovació després que el Consell General aprovés la modificació que incorpora per primera vegada l'obligatorietat de la igualitat de gènere en els òrgans esportius i actualitza el règim de les societats anònimes d'objecte esportiu (SAOE)”, and Digital Andorra reported the same day that the law requires the COA and the federations to have boards “amb un màxim del 60% d'un mateix sexe”.^[7][8] Neither the number of the amending law nor its BOPA publication could be retrieved, so the articles quoted below may since have been amended.

What the 2018 text says. Article 1 states: “L'objecte d'aquesta Llei és l'ordenació de l'activitat física i de l'esport al territori del Principat d'Andorra amb l'establiment d'un sistema que garanteixi el dret de tots els ciutadans a desenvolupar les facultats físiques, intel·lectuals i morals mitjançant l'accés lliure a una formació física adequada i a la pràctica de l'esport professional, competitiu, privat, educatiu, formatiu, de lleure o de qualsevol altra mena.” Article 3 provides: “El Govern exerceix, mitjançant l'òrgan governamental competent en matèria d'esports o l'òrgan que correspongui en cada moment, totes les facultats i competències en matèria d'esports i d'educació física que no siguin atribuïdes als comuns, a la Fundació de l'Esport o a altres entitats per aquesta Llei o per la resta de l'ordenament jurídic.”^[4] The Govern's portal places sport under the Secretaria d'Estat de Joventut i Esports of the Ministeri de Cultura, Joventut i Esports.^[9]

The Olympic committee in the law. Article 7.1 provides: “El Comitè Olímpic Andorrà, constituït d'acord amb els principis i les normes del Comitè Olímpic Internacional, és un organisme amb personalitat jurídica, plena capacitat d'obrar, patrimoni propi, durada il·limitada i sense ànim de lucre.” Article 7.2 provides that it is governed by its statutes, by the regulations approved by the IOC and by the legislation in force, and Article 7.4 provides: “Les federacions esportives de modalitats olímpiques han de formar part del Comitè Olímpic Andorrà.”^[4]

The committee's own dates. The COA states: “Tot i que el Comitè Olímpic Andorrà (COA) fou creat l'any 1971, no fou reconegut pel Comitè Olímpic Internacional (COI) fins a l'any 1975.” It states that its statutes were “aprovats pel ple del COA el 10 de desembre del 2001 i ratificats pel Comitè Internacional Olímpic el 25 de gener del 2002”, and it publishes a version dated 20 June 2022.^[2] Those are the committee's own dates. Olympedia's account is separate: it states that an Andorran committee approached the IOC at the end of 1967 and that “As the draft constitution submitted did not comply with the Olympic rules on many points, the application was rejected, and it was not until 1975 that the IOC approved a revised set of rules.”^[1]

Football. UEFA's page for the Federació Andorrana de Futbol (FAF) states that it was founded on 21 April 1994 and admitted to FIFA and UEFA in 1996.^[11]

What are the main domestic leagues and competitions?

Football at home. The FAF's own site disallows retrieval, so its competition names and sponsor titles could not be read. El Periòdic d'Andorra's results listings, as retrieved on 26 September 2026, head the domestic league “Lliga Multisegur” and list games of 19 and 20 September 2026, most of them at the Estadi Nacional.^[28] RTVA calls the competition the “Lliga nacional” and tags its item of 20 September 2026 “lliga Multisegur”.^[29] Both are media usages; the federation's own name for the competition could not be read. UEFA's draw of 16 June 2026 for the UEFA Champions League 2026/27 first qualifying round paired Inter Club d'Escaldes with Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar.^[12] The access rule by which an Andorran club enters that round could not be retrieved from UEFA's access list or from the FAF.

Football in the Spanish system. LaLiga's own standings page for LaLiga Hypermotion 2026/27, as retrieved on 26 September 2026, lists FC Andorra.^[13] That league is LaLiga's Spanish competition, not an Andorran one.

Basketball in the Spanish system. The ACB's own site, acb.com, lists MoraBanc Andorra among the clubs of the Liga Endesa 2026-27.^[14] That is the ACB's Spanish competition, not an Andorran one.

How has Andorra performed at the Olympic Games?

All figures here are Olympedia's, from its tables for the code AND, read as rows.^[1]

Editions. Olympedia's participation table has Summer rows for every Games from 1976 to 2024 and Winter rows for every Games from 1976 to 2026. Its narrative states that the 1975 rule change “enabled Andorra to take part in the 1976 Olympic Winter Games in Innsbruck, and since then they have competed at every Olympics. They have never had more than eight competitors at any Olympics, however, which happened twice: in Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996.” It also states: “A few Andorreans represented Spain at the Olympic Winter Games prior to 1968, but Andorra first competed at Innsbruck 1976.” Nothing from those appearances for Spain is added here.^[1]

No pre-war rows. There is no AND row before 1976, so there are no pre-war rows, no row for the 1906 Intercalated Games and no art-competition row. Every AND row is from 1976 on, and the post-1992 rows are the Summer Games from 1992 to 2024 and the Winter Games from 1992 to 2026.^[1]

Medals. Olympedia's medals-by-Games table carries no row typed Olympic Games for AND, and it prints no totals row for the Olympic Games. Its narrative states: “Andorra has not yet won a medal at the Olympics, their best finishes coming with Emili Pérez in the 1988 men's cycling road race, and with Daniel García in the 2012 men's judo half-lightweight class, both placing ninth.”^[1]

Youth Olympic Games rows are typed separately: the medals table lists one bronze, in alpine skiing, at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics. It is not an Olympic Games medal and is not included above.^[1]

Which athletes and teams are internationally recognised?

Olympic results. Olympedia's narrative records Emili Pérez's ninth place in the 1988 men's cycling road race and Daniel García's ninth place in the 2012 men's judo half-lightweight class as Andorra's best Olympic finishes.^[1]

The national football team. UEFA's timeline for the FAF records the national team's competitive debut in qualifying for UEFA EURO 2000 on 5 September 1998, a 3–1 defeat in Armenia. It records the team's first competitive victory on 13 October 2004, a 1–0 win over North Macedonia in a FIFA World Cup qualifier, with the goal by Marc Bernaus.^[11]

Clubs in UEFA competition. The same timeline records that FC Santa Coloma beat Maccabi Tel-Aviv 1–0 at home on 19 July 2007 in the UEFA Cup first qualifying round, the first win for an Andorran side in European club competition, and that Sant Julià overcame SP Tre Fiori of San Marino on penalties in the 2009/10 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round, the first Andorran side to win a European tie.^[11]

What major international competitions has Andorra hosted?

Alpine Ski World Cup. The FIS event record headed “Grandvalira Soldeu - El Tarter (AND)” lists World Cup races from 13 to 17 March 2019: downhill and super-G for men and women, a team parallel event, and giant slalom and slalom for men and women.^[15] An interview FIS published on 31 August 2018 put it to the resort's chief executive that “Soldeu will host the World Cup Finals in 2018/19”.^[18] Earlier World Cup races there are in the FIS calendar: women's giant slalom and slalom at Soldeu-Grandvalira on 10–12 February 2012, and a women's event at Soldeu-El Tarter on 27–28 February 2016.^[30][31] The FIS record headed “Soldeu (AND)” for the 2022/23 season lists the same programme of World Cup races from 15 to 19 March 2023, and a FIS report of 15 March 2023 states that “the World Cup Finals began on Wednesday” in Soldeu.^[16][19] The FIS record headed Soldeu (AND) for 2025/26 lists a women's downhill on 27 February 2026 and women's super-G races on 28 February and 1 March 2026.^[17][20]

Games of the Small States of Europe. The COA's page on the Games lists editions in Andorra in 1991, 2005 and 2025, and states that Malta took over in 2023 “degut a l'anul.lació dels JPEE d'Andorra 2021 per la COVID-19”.^[21] It dates the first from 21 to 26 May 1991 and states: “Andorra va organitzar els Jocs dels Petits Estats per primera vegada l'any 1991.”^[22] It dates the second “Del 30 de Maig al 4 de Juny del 2005”, and the third “Del 26 de maig de 2025 al 31 de maig de 2025”.^[23][24]

Mountain bike. The UCI wrote: “The Pal Arinsal resort in Andorra is set to host the 2024 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships”, which it said would begin on Wednesday 28 August; the same article states that Andorra “provided the stage for the UCI World Championships in 2015”.^[25]

What are Andorra's main sporting rivalries?

None of the bodies' pages read — the COA, UEFA's page for the FAF and the Olympedia narrative — names a rivalry or a recurring named fixture for Andorra, and no head-to-head count was retrieved from either the FAF or UEFA.^[2][11][1]

What is the role of school and university sport?

Article 58 of the 2018 sports law, in its original text, provides: “L'educació física s'imparteix com a matèria, d'acord amb els programes, els nivells i els graus educatius establerts legalment.” It adds: “Tots els centres docents, públics o privats, han de tenir accés als equipaments i al material esportiu suficient per atendre l'educació física i la pràctica de l'esport”, and “La pràctica de l'esport escolar ha de ser poliesportiva i no orientada exclusivament a la competició, de manera que els escolars, cíclicament, coneguin practicant-les les diverses modalitats esportives, d'acord amb la seva aptitud i la seva edat.”^[4]

The Govern's procedures portal lists enrolment for out-of-school sport as a “Programa adreçat a infants de 6 a 9 anys dels tres sistemes educatius”, and its data-protection notice names the “Ministeri d'Educació i Enesenyament Superior del Govern”, printed so. It states: “Les activitats es realitzen els dilluns, dimecres i divendres, durant el període escolar, al gimnàs de la mateixa escola, des de l'acabament de la jornada fins a les 19 h”, and gives 14 September 2026 as the start of activities for 2026–27.^[26] No university sport body was found among the COA's member bodies.^[3]

Were any sports invented in Andorra?

None of the sources read — the COA's pages, Olympedia's narrative and the 2018 sports law — claims that a sport was invented or codified in Andorra.^[2][1] The original text of the sports law declares no national sport. Among the principles of sports policy in its Article 2.3 it lists: “El manteniment, el desenvolupament i la recuperació de les modalitats esportives autòctones.”^[4]