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AFA — Asociación del Fútbol Argentino

Argentina’s national football association, which states it was founded on 21 February 1893 and joined FIFA in 1912; a CONMEBOL member since 1916. Its Liga Profesional runs the Primera División.
✓ Last reviewed: October 2026
Founded21 February 1893, as The Argentine Association Football League, per the AFA’s history; CONMEBOL gives the same date[1][2]
Current nameAsociación del Fútbol Argentino since 1934, per the AFA[1]
SeatMercedes 1366, Pilar, Province of Buenos Aires, as given by the AFA, CONMEBOL and FIFA[1][2][4]
FIFAMember association; the AFA states it affiliated in 1912[1][4]
ConfederationCONMEBOL, member “desde 1916” under Article 5 of its statutes[3]
Professional leagueLiga Profesional de Fútbol, which acts under Article 86 of the AFA statute[5]
PresidentClaudio Tapia, listed by FIFA and CONMEBOL as president (October 2026)[2][4]

What is the AFA?

The Asociación del Fútbol Argentino (AFA) is the national association for football in Argentina and the country’s member of FIFA and CONMEBOL. FIFA’s member-association page lists it in the CONMEBOL zone, with Claudio Tapia as president and Cristian Malaspina as general secretary.[4] CONMEBOL’s profile gives the full name, its 1893 founding and its entry into the confederation in 1916.[2]

The AFA’s own history page traces the association to a league founded in 1893 and records five changes of name before the present one was adopted in 1934.[1] Its remit includes the professional Primera División, run through its Liga Profesional de Fútbol, whose regulations cite the AFA statute by article number.[5] It also covers futsal, for which FIFA’s directory lists an AFA coordinator.[4] In Argentine law, the form that sports bodies may take is set by the Ley del Deporte (Ley 20.655), which a decree of December 2023 amended to admit new corporate forms alongside the traditional civil association.[8]

What does the AFA govern or do?

The AFA governs the professional game through the Liga Profesional de Fútbol Argentino de AFA (LPF). Article 1 of the LPF’s general regulation, in force from 21 January 2025, provides that the national league of the professional Primera División “actuará bajo la denominación de Liga Profesional de Fútbol Argentino de AFA … conforme a lo previsto en el artículo 86 y concordantes del Estatuto de la Asociación del Fútbol Argentino”, and that organising the Primera División “será competencia exclusiva de la LPF”.[5] Under Article 3 the LPF’s purposes include the management and commercial exploitation of the competition’s audiovisual rights.[5] Relegation from the Primera División is decided, the 2026 tournament regulation states, “conforme lo dispuesto en el artículo 93 del Estatuto de la Asociación del Fútbol Argentino”, and ties are settled under Article 111 of the AFA’s general regulation.[9]

For 2026 the LPF publishes separate regulations for the Primera División tournaments, the Proyección (reserve) tournaments and the youth tournaments, together with regulations on organisation and broadcasting, minimum participation requirements and economic and financial control.[7] Refereeing sits with the AFA: FIFA’s directory lists the chair of its referees’ committee and the head of its referees’ department, alongside a technical director.[4]

When was the AFA founded and where is it based?

The AFA states: “El 21 de Febrero de 1893, Alejandro Watson Hutton fundó The Argentine Association Football League”.[1] CONMEBOL’s profile gives the same date, “el 21 de febrero de 1893”.[2]

The AFA’s history page dates its renamings as follows: Argentine Football Association (1903); Asociación Argentina de Football (1912); Asociación Amateur Argentina de Football (1926); Asociación de Football Amateurs y Profesionales (1931); and Asociación del Fútbol Argentino (1934).[1]

The same page gives the AFA’s registered seat (sede social) as Mercedes 1366, Pilar, in the Province of Buenos Aires, and its training ground as the Predio “Lionel Andrés Messi” in Ezeiza.[1] CONMEBOL and FIFA give the same Pilar address, postcode 1629.[2][4]

How is the AFA recognised?

FIFA. FIFA’s member-association page lists the AFA as a member in the CONMEBOL zone.[4] The AFA’s history states that in 1912 it “se convirtió también en el primero del continente en afiliarse a la FIFA, el ente rector de este deporte a nivel universal” (also became the first on the continent to affiliate to FIFA, the world governing body of the sport).[1]

CONMEBOL. CONMEBOL’s statutes, approved by its Extraordinary Congress of 4 June 2019, list the “Asociación del Fútbol Argentino desde 1916” among the ten member associations; Article 1 records CONMEBOL’s founding on 9 July 1916, the same year.[3]

Argentine law. Decree of Necessity and Urgency 70/2023 of 20 December 2023 amended the Ley del Deporte (Ley 20.655) and the companies law to allow new corporate forms, including sports companies, for the entities of the national sport system. In its recitals the decree states that the change “no puede ser interpretada como una imposición a las aludidas entidades deportivas de transformar su actual forma de organización” (cannot be read as forcing sports entities to change their current form).[8]

What does the AFA organise?

The AFA fields Argentina’s national teams; the men’s team plays in the FIFA World Cup and the Copa América, and FIFA’s directory lists the coaches of the men’s and women’s teams.[2][4] The 2026 World Cup (11 June–19 July 2026) is past.

The top flight is the Liga Profesional de Fútbol, organised by the LPF under the AFA statute.[5] Its 2026 regulation provides for “treinta (30) equipos”, playing a Torneo Apertura and a Torneo Clausura, each in two zones of 15 followed by knockout rounds, with a Trofeo de Campeones between the two winners; it allocates six places in the 2027 Copa Libertadores and six in the 2027 Copa Sudamericana.[9] The LPF presents itself as the “Liga Profesional de Fútbol de AFA”; its site carries the Torneo Clausura Mercado Libre 2026, the Proyección Clausura 2026, the youth divisions and the Supercopa Internacional.[6] The 2026 Clausura is in progress on 4 October 2026.

Who are its members?

Article 6 of the LPF’s general regulation opens membership of the LPF to the “CLUBES de la República Argentina que participen en las competiciones oficiales de fútbol de carácter profesional de la categoría de Primera División ‘A’”; the 2026 tournament regulation sets that division at 30 clubs.[5][9] The LPF acts under Article 86 “y concordantes” of the AFA statute, and the regulation names it the professional league “de AFA”.[5]

The LPF has two organs (Article 10). Its Comité Ejecutivo is made up of one representative of each Primera División club — its president or a vice-president — together with the LPF’s president (Article 13); its Mesa Directiva consists of the AFA’s president, secretary and treasurer (Article 18).[5] At the continental level, the AFA itself is the member: CONMEBOL’s statutes count national associations, not clubs, as members.[3]

References

  1. AFA — Historia (founding, renamings, FIFA affiliation, seat). Accessed 2026-10-04.
  2. CONMEBOL — AFA member-association profile. Accessed 2026-10-04.
  3. CONMEBOL — Estatutos (approved by the Extraordinary Congress, 4 June 2019), Articles 1 and 5. Accessed 2026-10-04.
  4. FIFA — Member associations: Argentina, organisation. Accessed 2026-10-04.
  5. Liga Profesional de Fútbol de AFA — Reglamento General LPF (in force 21 January 2025), Articles 1, 3, 6, 10, 13 and 18. Accessed 2026-10-04.
  6. Liga Profesional de Fútbol de AFA — official site (2026 competitions). Accessed 2026-10-04.
  7. Liga Profesional de Fútbol de AFA — Reglamentos 2026. Accessed 2026-10-04.
  8. Boletín Oficial de la República Argentina — Decreto 70/2023 (DNU), “Bases para la reconstrucción de la economía argentina”, 20 December 2023. Accessed 2026-10-04.
  9. Liga Profesional de Fútbol de AFA — Reglamento Torneos Primera División 2026. Accessed 2026-10-04.