After weeks of uncertainty and rumours that a new 30-team Primera División would be present for just one short season, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) has approved a championship which will run from March to December in 2015.
Under the plans confirmed today, two teams would be relegated from the top division in December while two Nacional B sides would go up, in a move which appears to backtrack on earlier reports that the AFA would look to reduce the number of Primera teams.
The governing body bowed to pressure from the government, who through the Football for Everybody (FPT) program controls television rights for Argentina’s top two leagues. FPT had signed a contract to cover a tournament spanning an entire year during the tenure of late AFA president Julio Grondona, who introduced the idea of expanding the Primera from 20 to 30 teams earlier this year.
Under current plans, the championship will be played over 30 games. Each team will meet once in the year, with the remaining fixture coming from a round of derby matches.
Later in 2016, a reduction of the teams in the top-flight is expected through a short Transitional tournament, that would bring the number down from 30 to 28 as well as aligning the football calendar with the European schedule.
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