FEPAFUT — Federación Panameña de Fútbol

What is FEPAFUT?

The Federación Panameña de Fútbol (FEPAFUT) is the national association for football in Panama. It calls itself “el ente regulador del fútbol nacional” (the regulator of national football).^[3] FIFA lists it in English as the Panamanian Football Association, in the Concacaf confederation, with www.fepafut.com as its website.^[7]

Its statutes, in the edition of April 2026, define it in Article 1 as “una organización privada de naturaleza asociativa, sin fines de lucro” (a private, non-profit organisation of an associative nature), with “personería jurídica otorgada por el Instituto Panameño de Deportes (PANDEPORTES), con arreglo a la legislación de la República de Panamá”.^[2] The statutes abbreviate the federation as “FPF”; its site and Concacaf use FEPAFUT.^[2][6]

The federation lists departments for national teams, professional football, amateur football, development, refereeing, legal advice, and records and statistics, among others.^[3] FIFA’s directory names, beside president Manuel Arias, a vice-president, a general secretary, a treasurer, a technical director, the men’s and women’s national coaches, a futsal coordinator and the heads of its refereeing structure.^[7]

What does FEPAFUT govern or do?

Article 71 of the statutes gives the FPF the organisation of the official competitions: “a) Campeonatos Nacionales de distintas categorías; b) Copas Nacionales; c) Partidos oficiales o amistosos de selecciones nacionales de cualquier categoría”, and allows that “El Comité Ejecutivo puede delegar a las ligas subordinadas a la FPF la competencia para organizar competiciones”.^[2]

The statutes set up a Club Licensing Committee (Article 55), an Audit and Compliance Commission (Article 57), electoral commissions (Article 58), and Disciplinary, Ethics and Appeals Commissions (Articles 60–62).^[2] In 2026 the federation published an electoral code (June 2026) and an electoral manual (July 2026), a club-licensing regulation for women’s football (July 2026), a regulation on “avales” (January 2026) and an amateur-football regulation.^[4]

Competition rules are issued in its name too. The regulation for the 2026 Torneo Transitorio of the Liga de Fútbol Nacional (LFN), Panama’s third division, states that the competition “es organizada por el Departamento del Futbol Aficionado” — the federation’s amateur-football department (Article 2).^[5] The federation also publishes the competition regulations of its women’s league (LFF) and of its national youth championships for 2026–27.^[4]

When was FEPAFUT founded and where is it based?

The federation states that it was “fundada en 1937 y un año más tarde afiliada a la FIFA” (founded in 1937 and affiliated to FIFA a year later).^[3] Both dates are the federation’s own account.

Concacaf dates the confederation tie separately: “Panama was a founding member of Concacaf in 1961.”^[6] 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)”.^[8]

The current statutes “fueron adoptados por el Congreso celebrado en la Ciudad de Panamá el 23 de abril de 2026” (Article 81).^[2] Article 1 states: “La sede de la FPF se encuentra en la ciudad de Panamá, República de Panamá.”^[2] FIFA gives the address as the Ciudad Deportiva Irving Saladino, Juan Díaz, Panama City; Concacaf places it in the Edificio FEPAFUT at the same sports complex, in the corregimiento of Juan Díaz.^[7][6] The federation’s site gives the same location.^[1]

How is FEPAFUT recognised?

FIFA. FIFA’s member-association directory lists the Panamanian Football Association in the Concacaf confederation.^[7] The statutes state: “La FPF es miembro de la FIFA, de la Concacaf y de la UNCAF” (Article 1).^[2] The year of affiliation is the federation’s own: a year after its 1937 founding, by its account.^[3]

Concacaf and UNCAF. Concacaf’s member-association profile states that Panama “was a founding member of Concacaf in 1961”, and Panama appears among the 41 member associations on Concacaf’s list.^[6][9] UNCAF, the Central American regional union, is named in the same statutory clause as FIFA and Concacaf.^[2]

Panamanian law. The federation’s legal personality is granted by the Instituto Panameño de Deportes (PANDEPORTES), the national sports institute, “con arreglo a la legislación de la República de Panamá” (Article 1).^[2]

What does FEPAFUT organise?

National teams. The federation’s site lists men’s teams at senior, under-23, under-21, under-20, under-17, under-16 and under-15 level; women’s teams at senior, under-20, under-17 and under-15 level; a senior futsal team; and a beach football team.^[1] Through it Panama enters the Gold Cup and FIFA World Cup qualifying; the 2026 World Cup (11 June–19 July 2026) is past.^[6]

Leagues. The statutes describe the top flight as “la liga profesional avalada por la FPF” — the professional league endorsed by the federation — with a first and a second category (Article 12).^[2] That league is the Liga Panameña de Fútbol: the LFN regulation provides that, for the 2026–27 Apertura and Clausura, clubs may earn promotion on sporting merit to “la segunda división de la Liga Panameña de Futbol (Liga PROM)” (Article 18).^[5] The federation runs a professional-football department, and its regulations page lists a competition regulation for the Apertura 2026.^[3][4] Below the professional tiers, the LFN third division is organised by its amateur-football department, and the LFF women’s league plays its 2026–27 season under a federation regulation.^[5][4]

Who are its members?

Article 12 of the statutes names three classes of member:^[2]

• “Los clubes profesionales debidamente afiliados a la FPF, que participen en la primera categoría de la liga profesional avalada por la FPF”;
• “Los clubes que participen en la segunda categoría de la liga profesional avalada por la FPF”;
• “Las trece (13) Asociaciones Regionales también denominadas Ligas Provinciales de Fútbol”.

The Congress, under Article 26, “está integrado por veinte y seis (26) delegados”: one for each of the twelve first-category professional clubs, a single delegate for the second-category clubs together, and one for each of the thirteen provincial leagues.^[2] The professional clubs thus hold twelve of the twenty-six delegates in their own right, and the provincial leagues thirteen.^[2]

The statutes in this form were adopted by the Congress in Panama City on 23 April 2026 (Article 81).^[2]