FEDEFUTBOL — Federación Costarricense de Fútbol

What is FEDEFUTBOL?

The Federación Costarricense de Fútbol (FEDEFUTBOL) is the national association for football in Costa Rica. FIFA’s member-association page lists it as the Costa Rican Football Association, in the Concacaf confederation, with www.fedefutbol.com as its website and Osael Maroto as president.^[5] The statutes of its first-division members’ union give the name and the short form together: “la Federación Costarricense de Fútbol, conocida por sus siglas FEDEFUTBOL”.^[1] The professional league’s own documents also abbreviate it FCRF.^[2]

FIFA’s list of the federation’s officers shows the range of its work: beside the president, a vice-president, a general secretary and a treasurer, it names a technical director, head coaches of the men’s and women’s national teams, a futsal coordinator, a chair of the referees committee and a head of the referees department.^[4] Concacaf describes the federation as one of its founding members.^[3] The statutes of UNAFUT — the Unión de Clubes de Fútbol de Primera División — bind the first-division clubs’ union to the regulations of FIFA, Concacaf and UNCAF, the Central American regional union.^[1]

What does FEDEFUTBOL govern or do?

FEDEFUTBOL sits near the top of the national normative order. The UNAFUT statutes oblige UNAFUT, “como miembro de la FEDEFUTBOL”, to comply with the federation’s statutes and to adjust its own regulations to them (Article 1).^[1] The 2026–27 competition regulation of the Liga Promerica sets a hierarchy of norms that runs from IFAB’s Laws of the Game and FIFA’s norms to FCRF regulations, and only then to UNAFUT’s statutes and its own competition rules (Article 3).^[2]

The federation keeps three functions over the professional game. Club licensing: the licensing requirements are those of “el Reglamento de Licencias de clubes emitido por la FEDEFÚTBOL en apego a las disposiciones de FIFA”, and licensing decisions can be reviewed at first and second instance by FEDEFUTBOL (Articles 10 and 18).^[1] UNAFUT has published notices acting on correspondence from the “Comité de Licencias de la FCRF”.^[6] Discipline: “La FEDEFÚTBOL ha delegado en UNAFUT parte de sus atribuciones relativas a materia disciplinaria, en específico la primera instancia de dichos procesos” (Article 17); the competition regulation names an FCRF-designated disciplinary tribunal, an appeals tribunal and the national dispute resolution chamber (Cámara Nacional de Resolución de Disputas).^[1][2] Recognition of clubs: the twelve UNAFUT clubs “serán reconocidas por ésta última” — recognised by FEDEFUTBOL.^[1]

When was FEDEFUTBOL founded and where is it based?

Concacaf’s profile of the federation states: “A founding member of Concacaf, the Costa Rica Football Federation celebrated its centennial in 2021.”^[3] By Concacaf’s account, then, the federation dates from 1921.

Its confederation is younger. Concacaf states that it was established in 1961, “officially formed through the merger of the North American Football Union (NAFU) and the Football Confederation of Central America and the Caribbean (CCCF)”.^[7] The federation’s founding (1921, per Concacaf) and its membership of Concacaf (from the confederation’s establishment in 1961, as a founding member) are therefore two separate dates.^[3][7]

FIFA gives the federation’s address as 600 metres south of the Cruce de la Panasonic, San Rafael de Alajuela, on the radial to Santa Ana.^[4] Concacaf places it at the “Complejo Fedefutbol Plycem” in San Rafael de Alajuela.^[3] The UNAFUT statutes put the clubs’ union at the same location: “el Proyecto Gol, ubicado en San Rafael de Alajuela, seiscientos metros al sur del cruce de la Panasonic”.^[1]

How is FEDEFUTBOL recognised?

FIFA. FIFA’s member-association page lists the Costa Rican Football Association, in Concacaf, with www.fedefutbol.com as its website.^[5]

Concacaf. Concacaf’s member-association profile describes the federation as “a founding member of Concacaf”.^[3] Concacaf states that it was established in 1961 and that it now comprises 41 member associations, from Canada to Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.^[7] Within Central America, the UNAFUT statutes name UNCAF, the regional union, alongside FIFA and Concacaf among the bodies whose regulations bind the first-division clubs’ union.^[1]

National legal status. The federation’s professional member is constituted under Costa Rican association law: UNAFUT describes itself as “una organización privada sin fines de lucro de naturaleza asociativa de segundo grado constituida de conformidad con lo dispuesto en la Ley de Asociaciones”, inscribed in the registry of associations, and its relationship with the federation is set by Article 1 of those statutes.^[1]

What does FEDEFUTBOL organise?

As the FIFA and Concacaf member for Costa Rica, the federation is the body through which the country’s national teams enter FIFA and Concacaf competitions such as the FIFA World Cup qualifiers and the Gold Cup.^[5] FIFA lists head coaches of its men’s and women’s national teams and a futsal coordinator among its officers.^[4]

The first division is UNAFUT’s. Its statutes give it the purpose of “Regir, organizar y ejecutar competiciones nacionales e internacionales propias para el fútbol profesional de la Primera División y el aficionado de fuerzas básicas” (Article 2).^[1] It plays as the Liga Promerica; UNAFUT’s site also runs the Liga Menor youth competitions.^[6] The 2026–27 competition regulation sets a Campeonato de Apertura from July to December 2026 — in progress on 4 October 2026 — and a Campeonato de Clausura from January to June 2027, plus a Supercopa between the two champions and a Torneo de Copa.^[2] UNAFUT publishes its 2026–27 competition, disciplinary, commercial and press regulations.^[8]

Who are its members?

Article 1 of the UNAFUT statutes states: “UNAFUT es miembro de la Federación Costarricense de Fútbol, conocida por sus siglas FEDEFUTBOL de conformidad con lo que establece los estatutos y reglamentos de dicho órgano.”^[1] UNAFUT is itself an association whose members are clubs — “de naturaleza asociativa de segundo grado”, in its statutes’ words.^[1]

UNAFUT in turn groups the first-division clubs. Article 17 states: “Los doce Clubes Asociados UNAFUT están subordinadas a UNAFUT y FEDEFÚTBOL y serán reconocidas por ésta última.” The statutes carrying that figure were approved by UNAFUT’s general assembly on 7 July 2015.^[1] The clubs are subject to FEDEFUTBOL’s club-licensing regulation, which UNAFUT applies (Article 10), and to the disciplinary tribunal the FCRF designates.^[1][2]