The Primera División Femenina officially named Liga Femenina (currently known as Liga Femenina Pluspetrol 2023 for sponsorship reasons),[2] is the top tournament of women's association football in Peru, organized by the Peruvian Football Federation through its Women's Football Commission. The competition, as an official tournament, was created in 1996[1] under de name of "Campeonato Metropolitano de Fútbol Femenino" (Metropolitan women's football championship), followed by the "Campeonato Nacional de Fútbol Femenino" (Peruvian women's football championship) which was renamed later as "Copa Femenina"[3][4] and currently is designated as "Liga Femenina". The champion qualifies to the Copa Libertadores Femenina.
History
Metropolitan women's football championship
Like the men's tournament, the Peruvian Primera División Femenina began on a regional and amateur basis. In 1996[1][5][6] the Peruvian female football competitions started with the creation of the "Campeonato Metropolitano de Fútbol Femenino" (Metropolitan women's football championship) organized by the Peruvian Football Federation and played with sport clubs from Lima and Callao. The champion of this first edition was the team of Club Universitario who repeated the achievement the following year, resulting in the first two-time championship. In 1999 the Sporting Cristal also became two-time champion by getting the titles of 1998 and 1999. Later, the team of Club Universitario obtained the first three-time championship in the history of Peruvian women's soccer by winning the 2001, 2002 and 2003 titles.[7]
Campeonato Sudamericano Interclubes de Fútbol Femenino
In 2008 the Peruvian Football Federation modified the competition scheme to give it a national scope, setting the tournament in three fases: provincial, regional and national. With this new competition format, the tournament was renamed "Campeonato Nacional de Fútbol Femenino" (women's football national championship), and incorporated the former tournament (Campeonato Metropolitano de Fútbol Femenino) as the Region IV (Lima & Callao) of its regional stage.
Regional stage
Departments
Region I
Amazonas, Lambayeque, Piura, Tumbes
Region II
Áncash, Cajamarca, La Libertad, San Martín
Region III
Loreto, Ucayali
Region IV
Lima, Callao
Region V
Huánuco, Junín, Pasco
Region VI
Ayacucho, Huancavelica, Ica
Region VII
Arequipa, Moquegua, Tacna
Region VIII
Apurímac, Cusco, Madre de Dios, Puno
Since 2009 the champion qualifies for the Copa Libertadores Femenina.[10] the first champion under this new format was the team of White Star. That same year, the Peruvian Football Federation and the FIFA agreed to incorporate representatives of the Women's football Championship into the FPF Bases Assembly, thus granting them greater participation in the decisions of the governing body of Peruvian football[11] In 2012 the team of JC Sport Girls became three-times champion,[12] while in 2016 the team of Club Universitario de Deportes won the tri-championship for the second time.[13] As of 2017, the Peruvian Football Federation decided to accommodate its calendar to that of Conmebol so that the local women's tournaments would not intersect with the development of the Copa Libertadores Femenina. Until that time, the tournament schedule had no relation to the annual calendar; that is, the national championship of one year was defined the following year.[citation needed]
Liga Femenina
In 2020 the Peruvian Football Federation decides to professionalize women's football for which it issues Resolution No. 014-2020-FPF[14] that provides for "strengthening the traditional National System of Women's football Championships, hereinafter referred to as FPF Liga Femenina".[15] The first season was expected to take place in 2020,[16] but was delayed until 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, this new format was resumed and it was played under the name of FPF Liga Femenina and under the auspices of the private television network Movistar TV.[17] In the 2021 and 2022 seasons the title was won by the Alianza Lima club, while in 2023 it was won by Universitario, which thus achieved its tenth championship.
Results of the 'Big Three' in the Liga Femenina (Professional era)
Currently, the season is played in two stages: First stage and Final stage (Playoffs). The First stage is played under a single round-robin format with the 12 teams playing each other once. The Final stage is contested by teams ranked 1st to 6th in the First stage, with teams ranked 1st and 2nd directly qualified for semifinals and teams ranked 3rd to 6th qualified for a previous qualifying round or repechage to reach the semifinals. Winners of semifinals play the final to decide the national champion.[citation needed]
Number of clubs in Primera División throughout the years
Period (in years)
No. of clubs
2021–2022
13 clubs
2023
14 clubs
2024
13 clubs
2025
12 clubs
Seasons in Liga Femenina
There are 20 teams that have taken part in 5 Liga Femenina that was played from the 2021 season until the 2025 season. The teams in bold compete in Peruvian Liga Femenina currently. The year in parentheses represents the most recent year of participation at this level. Alianza Lima, Carlos A. Mannucci, Killas, Sporting Cristal, Universidad César Vallejo and Universitario are the only teams that have played Peruvian Liga Femenina football in every season.
^ abc«Mención aparte merece el futbol femenino que ha recibido el impulso necesario y viene desarrollándose con éxito desde 1996. (...) gracias al trabajo coordinado entre la Federación y los clubes, nuestro país se ha convertido en uno de los mejores en esta parte del continente»."Federación Peruana de Fútbol: Memoria 1992–2002, p. 39, 2003"(PDF) (in Spanish). Peruvian Football Federation. 19 December 2003. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2 March 2007.
^ abcdef«Vivian Ayres fue pieza importante para que Universitario obtuviera los títulos de fútbol femenino en 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002 y 2003, tiempos en el que se consolidó como la goleadora histórica del club crema»."Universitario: Vivian Ayres, nueva DT del equipo de futsal" (in Spanish). peru.com. 14 October 2022.
