FEF — Federación Ecuatoriana de Fútbol

What is the FEF?

The Federación Ecuatoriana de Fútbol (FEF) is the national association for football in Ecuador, the member of FIFA and CONMEBOL for the country. FIFA’s member-association page lists it as the Ecuadorian Football Association, under CONMEBOL, with www.fef.ec as its website and Francisco Egas as its president.^[3] CONMEBOL’s statutes name it, as the Federación Ecuatoriana de Fútbol, among the confederation’s ten member associations.^[4]

CONMEBOL’s profile of the federation credits the provinces of Guayas and Pichincha with the development of the game in Ecuador and refers to the national team as La Tricolor.^[1] CONMEBOL’s profile gives ecuafutbol.org as the federation’s website.^[1] FIFA’s list of the federation’s officers names, beside the president, a vice-president and a general secretary, the head coach of the women’s national team, a futsal coordinator and a chair of the referees committee.^[2]

What does the FEF govern or do?

The professional top flight is not run by the federation directly. LigaPro — “La Liga Profesional de Fútbol del Ecuador”, which describes itself as a non-profit institution — organises the Serie A and Serie B professional tournaments.^[5] Its legal page publishes the “Convenio de Cesión de Atribuciones y Competencias entre la Federación Ecuatoriana de Fútbol y la Liga Profesional de Fútbol del Ecuador”, an agreement ceding powers and competences from the federation to the league, together with a first and a second addendum.^[6] LigaPro states that it administers and organises the professional tournaments of both series, handling their commercial rights, discipline, stadiums, appeals tribunal and security.^[5]

What the federation keeps follows from its FIFA and CONMEBOL membership: it is the body FIFA and CONMEBOL deal with for Ecuador and the one whose national teams enter their competitions.^[4][3] FIFA lists a chair of the federation’s referees committee among its officers.^[2] CONMEBOL’s statutes oblige 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]

When was the FEF founded and where is it based?

CONMEBOL’s profile gives the federation’s founding as “El 30 de mayo de 1925” and credits the provinces of Guayas and Pichincha with establishing the game in Ecuador.^[1]

Ecuador joined CONMEBOL in 1927. The statutes record “Federación Ecuatoriana de Fútbol desde 1927”, and CONMEBOL’s profile gives the same year for its admission.^[4][1] That makes the founding (1925) and confederation membership (1927) two separate dates.

The seat CONMEBOL lists is in Guayaquil, not the capital: “Las Aguas y Calle Alianza, Casilla 09-01-7447, Guayaquil”.^[1] FIFA gives the same address: Av. Las Aguas y Calle Alianza, P.O. Box 09-01-7447, Guayaquil.^[2]

How is the FEF recognised?

FIFA. FIFA’s member-association page lists the Ecuadorian Football Association, with CONMEBOL as its confederation.^[3]

CONMEBOL. Article 5(3) of the CONMEBOL statutes approved by the extraordinary congress of 4 June 2019 lists the member associations “a la fecha de la sanción del presente Estatuto”, including “Federación Ecuatoriana de Fútbol desde 1927”.^[4] Ecuador appears among the ten associations on CONMEBOL’s members page.^[7] The statutes also oblige 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]

The professional league. The federation’s relationship with LigaPro is set out in a published bilateral instrument, the ceded-competences agreement with LigaPro and its two addenda.^[6]

What does the FEF organise?

The federation fields Ecuador’s national teams in FIFA and CONMEBOL competitions — the FIFA World Cup qualifiers and the Copa América among them.^[3] FIFA lists a head coach of the women’s national team and a futsal coordinator among the federation’s officers.^[2]

The two professional divisions are LigaPro’s. LigaPro’s site presents Serie A — the LigaPro Serie A — and Serie B as its competitions.^[8] LigaPro states that it was founded on 20 April 2018 with 24 teams from Serie A and B, and that “Actualmente la LigaPro cuenta con 28 equipos, disputando la Serie A y Serie B” — it currently has 28 teams, in its own count.^[5] It does so under the agreement ceding the federation’s powers and competences to it.^[6] Clubs from these divisions enter the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana, which CONMEBOL organises.

Who are its members?

On the professional side, LigaPro gives its membership as 28 clubs contesting Serie A and Serie B, up from the 24 teams of Serie A and B with which it was founded on 20 April 2018.^[5] LigaPro publishes its own statutes, dated 26 May 2024,^[9] and sets out its relationship with the federation in the Convenio de Cesión de Atribuciones y Competencias and its first and second addenda.^[6] LigaPro states that it handles the professional competitions’ commercial rights, discipline and appeals tribunal, while the federation remains the member of FIFA and CONMEBOL for Ecuador and the body CONMEBOL lists among its ten member associations.^[5][4][7]