Argentine football, it is known, never ceases to surprise. The cancellation of relegations in the middle of the 2024 season was proof of this. But this Thursday, five days before the end of the year, a section at the bottom of the Bulletin of the Executive Committee meeting set off alarm bells: The AFA announced that it is analyzing the creation of a ranking of clubs in the Professional League to determine classification for the Copa Libertadores and Sudamericana 2026.
The last paragraph of Bulletin 6604 published late this Thursday but which refers to the meeting held last Friday, December 20, detailed: “Different possibilities are being analyzed to establish the classification starting with the 2025 season, from the First Division teams to the CONMEBOL Libertadores 2026 and the CONMEBOL Sudamericana 2026, among which is the possibility of establishing “a ranking system for the Clubs of the Category, from the beginning of the Professional Football League and taking into consideration their participation in both national and international competitions”.
It would be, neither more nor less, a mirror of what Conmebol and FIFA did to determine those classified for the new Club World Cup of 32 teams that will be played for the first time in June/July 2025 in the United States. There, River and Boca achieved their place as the best on the continent, in a ranking that was grouped by score according to their latest participation in the highest continental tournament.
The Professional League was created in 2020virtually in the midst of the pandemic and with the last season of the Super League unfinished, since the first date was played partially and Mandatory Social and Preventive Isolation (ASPO) was established. Therefore, Four seasons have been played and the fifth would be added next yearwith the particularity that the format will be two Cups, where the teams from one zone will not face those from the other throughout the year, except for the interzonal (classics/pairings) and the Playoffs for the title.
So, only taking those that were played, that hypothetical historical table of the Professional League would have these teams in the twelve qualifying places for the International Cups (obviously not counting the champions of the season who automatically win their right): River306 points; Boca, 271; Racing263; Córdoba Workshops251; Students of La Plata247; Velez241; Defense and Justice240; Godoy Cruz224; Hurricane229; Argentines228; Independent223; y San Lorenzo215.
Who were the members of the Executive Committee present at the meeting? Claudio ‘Chiqui’ Tapia; Ignacio Villarroel (River), David Garzón (Huracán), Carlos Montaña (Independiente), Gabriel Greco (Atlanta), Víctor Blanco (secretary of AFA), Luciano Nakis (Deportivo Armenio), Luis Chebel (Lanús), Maximiliano Levy (Almirante Brown ), Pablo Toviggino (Federal Council), Jorge Barrios (Buenos Aires Students), Mariano Cowen (Gimnasia de La Plata), Luis Berlanga (Vélez), Gonzalo Belloso (Rosario Central), Marcelo Moretti (San Lorenzo), Cristian Malaspina (Argentinos Juniors), Francisco Javier Marín (Acassuso), Marcelo Achile (Defensores de Belgrano), Matías Tapia (Barracas Central), Juan Manuel Cavagliatto (Institute of Córdoba), Ignacio Astore (Newell’s), Luis Artime (Belgrano de Córdoba), Dante Majori (Yupanqui), Javier Méndez Cartier (Excursionistas), José L. Coutinho (Deportivo Merlo) and Mario Echevarría (Secretary of Coordination of the AFA Federal Council – San Luis).
The new ticket prices to watch Argentine football in 2025
The AFA Executive Committee also resolved to implement a 35 percent increase in the prices of general tickets in each of the categories of Argentine soccer. In this way, in the Professional League (Men’s First A), it will go from 15 thousand to 20 thousand pesos; Retirees, pensioners and women will go from 7,500 to 10 thousand pesos while minors will pay 5,500 pesos in relation to the 1,700 in the second half of 2024.
The Ascenso will also undergo changes and the general admission rose in all categories: 16,000 (First National), 13,000 (First Metropolitan B), 11,700 pesos (First C and Women) and 8,000 (Futsal).
They annulled two of the four relegations of the women’s First A
As happened with the men’s tournament, the publication of the Official Bulletin of the Executive Committee made official a change in the relegations of the maximum women’s tournament, which had San Lorenzo as undefeated champion. In the Professional League they were directly annulled, while in the women’s First A, two of the four provided for by the 2024 regulations were removed.
In this way, Rosario Centralwho had been in the relegation zone according to the annual table, will continue in the top category. The other ‘beneficiary’ is still a mystery: it is that Hurricane y Students from Buenos Aires They were equal on 27 points, with Parque Patricios having a better goal difference, but according to the regulations there should be a tiebreaker party.
“At the request of the Women’s Football Commission, considering it appropriate for the consolidation and development of the disciplinethe Executive Committee approved to reduce the relegations of the 2024 season from the First “A” of Women’s Soccer from four (4) to two (2), “argued the writing in Bulletin 6604.
They made official a Commission against illegal betting on football
Another important point of the meeting was the presentation of the Governance, Transparency and Integrity Commission, whose main functions are “those to promote the development of integrity and transparency policies, in line with the best governance practices, in the clubs directly and indirectly affiliated with the AFA”. The AFA Executive Committee is represented by Luis Chebel (Lanús) and the accountant Mónica V. Bouvet in this body, which also has people from the national government.
“Addressing the risks to the integrity of football associated with the development of online gambling is established as a priority, among which the risks of match-fixing with the aim of obtaining an illegal economic benefit through betting and the consequent money launderingas well as the risks associated with illegal online gambling and the access of minors to betting,” indicated the AFA Official Gazette.
In this context, the Commission was tasked with, in coordination with the Integrity Division and the Ethics and Compliance Directorate, to carry out the following actions: “develop training for the different football actors with a focus on the prevention of match-fixing; establish standards for the adoption by clubs of confidential reporting channels where it is possible to report conduct linked to match-fixing in particular and all other violation of the AFA Code of Ethics in general, protecting the complainant; prepare proposals for courses of action aimed at guaranteeing unrestricted respect for the prohibitions established in the AFA Code of Ethics; prepare a diagnosis; and proposals for addressing online gambling and minors’ access to sports betting”.