“Por amplia mayoría se ha votado este nuevo formato para el año que viene,” declared Argentinos Juniors president Cristian Malaspina outside league offices in Puerto Madero.

Argentine professional football will undergo another structural overhaul in 2027 after the Executive Committee of the Liga Profesional de Fútbol approved a sweeping championship reform. The newly adopted system preserves the 30-team top-flight division while abandoning the previous two-zone tournament structure in favor of a traditional round-robin setup, according to reports from Diario El Día de La Plata.

League Leaders Approve New Knockout Structure

The revised calendar divides the competitive year into two distinct championship phases. During the opening half of the year, clubs will contest a 15-date schedule consisting of 14 standard fixtures and one traditional rivalry match week. Upon the conclusion of this round-robin stage, the 16 highest-ranking clubs advance to a single-elimination knockout bracket stretching from the Round of 16 to the final, crowning the first domestic champion of the season.

Once the competition resets for the second half of the year, teams will contest the remaining 15 fixtures of the 30-match season. A second knockout phase will follow immediately, yielding another tournament champion. Alongside these two competition winners, a third title will be awarded based on the aggregate annual standings accumulated across all 30 rounds of the round-robin schedule.

Club Executives Debate Mass Relegation Proposals

While the league-wide calendar reform passed with broad support, proposals to implement mass relegations faced substantial resistance during the executive meeting. Plans to drop 10 teams from the Primera División simultaneously were ultimately discarded after drawing opposition from nearly all club representatives on the board.

AFA general secretary highlighted the dissenting stance maintained by River Plate through vice president Ignacio Villarroel. “Solamente River planteó la postura de 20 equipos; en la mesa se propuso la moción para saber quién estaría de acuerdo con 10 descensos y, por unanimidad, excepto ellos, ninguno estaba convencido de esa cantidad de descensos masivos,” the secretary noted, confirming that Núñez officials stood alone in pushing for a leaner 20-club division and immediate mass drops.

Estudiantes de La Plata did not register an official vote during the session. Board member Juan Martín Cerolini was barred from ratifying the club’s position due to an active sanction stemming from the Supercopa Internacional.

Next Steps for the Primera División Calendar

With the executive vote secured, the Liga Profesional de Fútbol turns its attention toward drafting the detailed match schedules and operational bylaws required to implement the 30-team twin-knockout calendar ahead of the 2027 season kick-off.