Liga Dominicana de Fútbol

The Liga Dominicana de Fútbol is the first professional football league in Dominican Republic, it was launched in March 2015.[2] For sponsorship reasons it is known as LDF Banco Popular.[3]

Liga Dominicana de Fútbol
Founded2014
CountryDominican Republic
ConfederationCONCACAF
Number of clubs8
Level on pyramid1
Domestic cup(s)Copa Dominicana de Fútbol
International cup(s)CONCACAF Champions Cup
CONCACAF Caribbean Cup
CONCACAF Caribbean Shield
Current championsCibao F.C. (2024)
Most championshipsCibao F.C. (5 titles)
TV partnersDomestic
CDN Deportes[1]

Live Streaming
Youtube:

Canal official de Liga Dominicana de Fútbol
Websiteligadominicanadefutbol.com
Current: 2024 Liga Dominicana de Fútbol

History

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Prior to the league's establishment, football in the Dominican Republic was only played in a semi-pro level.

To address the issue and to raise the status of football in the country, the Dominican Football Federation has decided to implement the idea of a new professional league in the country, to attract more people into the sport. Thus, the Liga Dominicana de Fútbol was approved, as an attempt to raise the country's football profile. The first season began in 2014.[4]

Jarabacoa FC gets Relegated for the 2024 Season

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On 2 February 2024, the Official Jarabacoa FC account on X announced they will not participate in the 2024 season in desire to maintain and improve their turf along with general improvements to their Stadium.[1] The 2024 season will feature the previous 8 teams from the 2023 season.[5]

Competition format

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In the first three installments, each team played 18 matches in the regular season with the 4 teams with most points qualifying for the playoffs. The champion was decided in a single-legged final.

The 2018 season grew from 10 to 12 teams with the arrival of San Francisco de Macoris (Atlético) and Bayaguana (Inter). Since Delfines from the Eastern part of the country joined, the LDF now had a team in each of the seven provinces and the National District, and the only professional league with a team in the South region San Cristóbal.

The tournament featured 132 regular series matches. Each team played 22 games in the regular phase (instead of the 18 of the first three editions), and the six highest scoring advanced to the second phase, where they played one against all in a round. The best four then advanced to a semi-final with round-trip matches. The winners had a championship in a single match, which extends the league calendar to 152 matches from 95 in 2017.

As a novelty, the LDF 2018 season had a national and international television transmission chain that brought the small screen 60 matches at the local level and a number of meetings to be defined that will be taken to at least five nations of the region, including the United States and Mexico.

The 2019 tournament of the Liga Dominicana de Futbol started with 12 teams. The event brought up a new format in which each of the twelve clubs can have up to 6 foreign players on their payroll.

The new format includes an "Apertura" and a "Clausura" tournament, both will be played one round and have been agreed with the twelve clubs and also with CONCACAF. The "Apertura" will have a semifinal with the four best teams and then a final, as well as the "Clausura".

The champion of each tournament will then compete to win the qualification to the CONCACAF championship tournament. Another club will qualify for the CONCACAF tournament, accumulating the most points in both tournaments.

Teams

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Team City Stadium (capacity) Founded First
season
Head coach
LDF
Cibao F.C. Santiago Estadio Cibao FC (10,000) 2014 2015   Jorge Alfonso
Atlético Vega Real La Vega Estadio Olímpico (La Vega) (7,000) 2014 2015   Jose Rodriguez
Moca F.C. Moca Estadio Complejo Deportivo Moca 86 (2,000) 1971 2015   Ronald Batista
Atlántico F.C. Puerto Plata Estadio Leonel Plácido (2,000) 2014 2015   Lenín José Bastidas Bello
C.A. San Cristóbal San Cristóbal Estadio Panamericano (3,000) 2014 2015   Froilán Hidalgo
Delfines Del Este F.C. La Romana Estadio Municipal La Romana (1,200) 2014 2015   Juan Carlos Gastón
Universidad O&M F.C. Santo Domingo Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez (27,000) 2010 2015   Martín Arriola
C.A. Pantoja Santo Domingo Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez (27,000) 1999 2015   Orlando Capellino

Former Teams

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Team City Stadium (capacity) First
season
Last
season
Head coach Record W/T/L
Club Barcelona Atlético Santo Domingo Estadio Parque del Este (3,500) 2015 2019 25/28/40
Bauger F.C. Santo Domingo Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez (27,000) 2015 2017 Jorge Rolando Baguer 24/06/24
Inter de Bayaguana Bayaguana Estadio Bayaguana (1,000) 2018 2019 2/4/16
Don Bosco Jarabacoa FC Jarabacoa Estadio de Fútbol Junior Mejía (1,800) 2018 2023 Ramón Calderé 37/31/41
Club Atlético de San Francisco San Francisco de Macorís Complejo Deportivo Juan Pablo Duarte (2,500) 2017 2022 Daniel Álvarez 26/15/28

Champions

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Results by year
Year Playoff Champions
(Champions)
Regular Season
(Regular Season)
Runner-up Top Scorer(s) Top Scorer's Club Goals
2015 Pantoja Bauger Atlántico FC Jonathan Faña Bauger 17
2016 Barcelona Atlético Barcelona Atlético Cibao Anderson Arias Club Barcelona Atlético 11
2017 Atlántico FC Cibao FC Atlético Pantoja Armando Maita, Mauro Gomez, Woodensky Cherenfant Club Atlético Pantoja, Atlántico FC, Cibao FC 10
2018 Cibao FC Atlético de San Francisco Atlético de San Francisco Fredys Arrieta Atlético de San Francisco 18
2019 Atlético Pantoja Cibao FC Cibao FC Pablo Marisi Club Atlético Pantoja 13
2020 O&M FC Cibao FC, O&M FC Delfines del Este FC Daniel Jamesley O&M FC 7
2021 Cibao FC Cibao FC Atlético Vega Real Juan David Díaz Sánchez Atlético Pantoja 18
2022 Cibao FC Cibao FC Atlético Pantoja Gustavo Azcona Moca FC 14
2023 Cibao FC Cibao FC Moca FC Oscar Leonardo Becerra Gamboa Atlantico FC 18
2024 Cibao FC Cibao FC O&M FC Rivaldo Correa Cibao FC 21


Most goals

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Place Player Country Team (s) Goals
1 Anderson Arias   Venezuela Atlántico FC (2015)
Club Barcelona Atlético (2016)
O&M FC (2017)

(2018)
Atletico San Francisco

47
2 Pablo Marsini   Argentina Atlantico FC (2017)
Cibao FC (2018)
Club Atlético Pantoja (2019)
38
3 Domingo Peralta   Dominican Republic Cibao FC (2015-2017)

(2018)
Moca FC (2019)
Atletico Vega Real (2020-)
O&M FC

37
4 Daniel Jamesley   Haiti Jarabacoa FC (2018)

(2019-)
O&M FC

37
5 Charles Herold Jr.   Haiti Cibao FC (2015-) 36
6 Luis Espinal   Dominican Republic Club Atlético Pantoja (2015-2019)
Cibao FC (2021-)
Moca FC
33
7 Jonathan Faña   Dominican Republic Bauger FC (2015)
Cibao FC (2016)
Moca FC (2017)
Club Atlético Pantoja (2018)
30
8 Sam Colson   Haiti Cibao FC (2015-2017)
Atletico San Cristobal (2018)
Atletico Vega Real (2018)
Atlético San Cristobal)
30
9 Berthame Dine   Haiti Atlántico FC (2015)
Atlético Vega Real (2016-)
25
10 Bony Pierre   Haiti Bauger FC (2015-2016)
Club Barcelona Atlético (2017-)
21

Stadiums and locations

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Current LDF stadiums

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Atlántico FC Atlético San Cristóbal Atlético Vega Real
Estadio Leonel Plácido Estadio Panamericano Estadio Olímpico (La Vega)
Capacity: 2,000 Capacity: 3,000 Capacity: 7,000
Club Atlético Pantoja Delfines Del Este Moca FC
Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez Parque del Este Estadio Complejo Deportivo Moca 86
Capacity: 27,000 Capacity: 1,200 Capacity: 2,000
Cibao FC Universidad O&M FC
Estadio Cibao FC Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez
Capacity: 10,000 Capacity: 27,000

References

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  1. ^ "CDN Deportes (pagina futbol)". CDN Deportes. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  2. ^ "Dominican Republic launches professional league". CONCACAF. 10 March 2015. Archived from the original on 30 March 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  3. ^ "Banco Popular y la Federación Dominicana de Fútbol firman alianza estratégica" (in Spanish). El Nuevo Diario. 23 March 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  4. ^ "Liga Mayor de Futbol Republica Dominicana Inicia Hoy Con 12 Equipos".
  5. ^ "LA LDF 2024 INICIARÁ 8 DE MARZO CON 8 CLUBES". Liga Dominicana de Futbol. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
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