APF — Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol

What is the APF?

The Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol (APF) is the national association for football in Paraguay and the country’s member of FIFA and CONMEBOL. FIFA’s member-association page lists it as the Paraguayan Football Association, with www.apf.org.py as its website and Robert Harrison as its president.^[3] CONMEBOL’s statutes list it among the confederation’s ten member associations.^[4]

CONMEBOL’s profile of the association says that football reached Asunción through the Dutch teacher William Paats and that the APF owns the Estadio Defensores del Chaco.^[1] The APF’s own site is built around its competitions — fixtures, tables, scorers and news — and carries a section headed “FIFA Integridad y Transparencia” and a complaints form.^[5] FIFA’s list of the APF’s officers names, beside the president, three vice-presidents and a general secretary, head coaches of the men’s and women’s national teams, a futsal coordinator and a chair of the referees committee.^[2]

What does the APF govern or do?

The APF’s own site carries the professional first division: it publishes the fixtures, results and table of the 2026 Primera División Clausura, with its club pages and scorers.^[5] The table is published on the APF’s site under the heading “Clasificación Torneo Clausura”.^[6]

Beyond the top flight, the APF is the body FIFA and CONMEBOL deal with for Paraguay, and it fields the national teams in their competitions.^[3] FIFA lists a chair of the APF’s referees committee among its officers.^[2] The site’s “FIFA Integridad y Transparencia” section and complaints form sit alongside its competition pages.^[5]

When was the APF founded and where is it based?

CONMEBOL’s profile gives the association’s founding as 18 June 1906 and credits the Dutch teacher William Paats with bringing the first football to Asunción.^[1]

Paraguay joined CONMEBOL in 1921 — five years after the confederation’s founding on 9 July 1916. The statutes record “Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol desde 1921”, and CONMEBOL’s profile gives the same year.^[4][1]

The APF’s seat, as CONMEBOL gives it, is the Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Calle Mayor Martínez N° 1393 y Alejo García, Asunción.^[1] FIFA’s officer list gives a different address: Medallistas Olímpicos Nro. 1, Parque Olímpico, Ñu Guasu, Ciudad de Luque.^[2] CONMEBOL’s own seat is also in Luque: Article 1(3) of the CONMEBOL statutes states that “Su sede permanente está radicada en la ciudad de Luque (Gran Asunción), República del Paraguay”.^[4]

How is the APF recognised?

FIFA. FIFA’s member-association page lists the Paraguayan Football Association.^[3] It names Robert Harrison as president and www.apf.org.py as the website.^[3]

CONMEBOL. Article 5(3) of the CONMEBOL statutes approved by the extraordinary congress of 4 June 2019 lists the member associations as at that date, among them “Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol desde 1921”.^[4] CONMEBOL’s profile records “1921” as the year of admission, and Paraguay appears among the ten associations on CONMEBOL’s members page.^[1][7] Membership carries obligations: the same statutes require every member association to “instaurar un sistema de concesión de licencia de clubes que cumpla con los requisitos mínimos establecidos por la CONMEBOL y la FIFA” — to set up a club-licensing system meeting CONMEBOL’s and FIFA’s minimum requirements.^[4]

What does the APF organise?

The APF fields Paraguay’s national teams in FIFA and CONMEBOL competition, including the FIFA World Cup qualifiers and the Copa América; its site carries national-team news alongside its domestic competitions.^[5][3] FIFA lists head coaches of the men’s and women’s national teams and a futsal coordinator among the APF’s officers.^[2]

Domestically, the APF’s site publishes the 2026 Primera División season, whose Clausura tournament is in progress on 4 October 2026, with match pages for the thirteenth round.^[5] Its table page shows the standings of the Torneo Clausura.^[6] Paraguayan clubs qualify from the domestic championship for the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana, which CONMEBOL organises from its seat in Luque.^[4]

Who are its members?

The APF’s site lists the clubs of the 2026 Primera División, each with its own club page: Olimpia, Libertad, Nacional, 2 de Mayo, Guaraní, Trinidense, Sportivo Ameliano, Cerro Porteño, Luqueño, Rubio Ñu, Recoleta and San Lorenzo, in the order the site gives them. The same clubs appear in the round-thirteen fixtures of the Clausura.^[5]

The APF’s table page, headed “Clasificación Torneo Clausura”, ranks the same twelve clubs.^[6] Beyond its own clubs, the APF is itself a member: of CONMEBOL since 1921, under Article 5(3) of the confederation’s statutes, and of FIFA, which lists it as the Paraguayan Football Association.^[4][3]