Copa Rommel Fernández

Copa Rommel Fernández

Countries	Panama
Confederation	CONCACAF
Founded	1996
Number of teams	23
Levels on pyramid	3
Promotion to	Liga Nacional de Ascenso
Relegation to	Local district leagues
Current champions	Millenium (2009)
Copa Rommel Fernández 2010

The Copa Rommel Fernández is the third level of Panama's national club championship. It was founded in 1996 and it's a seasonal tournament that lasts 2 months in which the champion is promoted to Liga Nacional de Ascenso. The tournament is named after Panamanian football legend Rommel Fernández. The tournament is presided by Lucas Fernández.

Since the championship is seasonal only, at the end of each competition each of the teams (except the champions) are relegated to their respective district leagues where they compete to earn a spot for the following season. Additionally, the team relegated from the Liga Nacional de Ascenso automatically holds a spot to compete in the Copa Rommel Fernández after the end of the second division championship.

Format

The tournament is divided into four zones which include the qualified teams from each respective provincial tournaments (see below). Each province is represented by two teams except Panama and Chiriqui which are represented by four teams each. Each team plays a single game against the other teams from their same zone, the two teams with most points in their respective zones will qualify to the final round. The eight qualified teams play a knock out stage which starts with rounds of 16 and finishes with a two team final. The champion gains promotion to the Liga Nacional de Ascenso held that same year.

Qualification

In order to gain the right to play in this tournament each team has to first participate in their respective district leagues. The champions of each respective district league will later on play with each other in a provincial tournament held by their respective province. The champion and the runner-up of the provincial tournaments obtain the right to represent their province in the Copa Rommel Fernández held the following year.

In the case of Panama and Chiriqui the provincial tournament are divided by half (West and East Panama and Occidental and Oriental (simply referred as "Chiriqui") Chiriqui). West Panama includes the districts that are over the Bridge of the Americas (Arraiján, La Chorrera, Chame and San Carlos). East Panama include the rest of the districts in the Panama Province. Occidental Chiriqui includes the districts of Alanje, Boquerón, Bugaba, Renacimiento and Barú. The rest of the districts constitute Oriental Chiriqui (simply referred to as "Chiriqui").

Teams in the 2010 season

Zone 1

Club	City	Qualified as
Deportivo Cali	Colón	Colón 1
Deportivo El Valle	Arraiján	West Panamá 1
Navy Bay	Colón	Colón 2
Paraíso F.C.	Arraiján	East Panamá 2
Santa Fe		Darién 2
SUNTRACS F.C.	San Miguelito	East Panamá 1

Zone 2

Club	City	Qualified as
Atlético Darién		Darién 1
La Primavera	Santiago	Veraguas 1
Los Pumas	Penonomé	Coclé 1
Río de Jesús F.C.	Río de Jesús	Veraguas 2
San Antonio	Penonomé	Coclé 2
Santa Gema	Arraiján	West Panama 2

Zone 3

Club	City	Qualified as
Club 20-30	Santiago	Veraguas 2008 champion
Llano Rio	La Villa	Los Santos 2
Los Milagros F.C.	Chitré	Herrera 2
Monagrillo F.C.	Chitré	Herrera 1
Niupy	Macaracas	Los Santos 1

Zone 4

Club	City	Qualified as
Atlético Bocas Isla		Bocas del Toro 2
Deportivo Bades	David	Chiriquí 1
Deportivo Los Halcones	Changuinola	Bocas del Toro 1
Majagua	Progreso	Occidental Chiriquí 1
Malca F.C.	Progreso	Occidental Chiriquí 2
San José F.C.	David	Chiriquí 2

Past Champions & Runner-Ups

Year	Winner		Runner-up	Score
1996 Details
1997 Details
1998 Details
1999 Details	Solano
2000 Details	C.A.I.		Zona Libre	3-1
2001 Details	Orión		Vista Hermosa	3-1
2002 Details	River Plate de Colón		Río Abajo	1-0
2003 Details	Chepo			N/A
2004 Details
2005 Details
2006 Details	Génesis		Independiente de Veracruz	5-2
2007 Details	Paraíso			N/A
2008 Details	Chorrillito		Five Star	4-2
2009 Details	Millenium		El Tecal	5-4*
2010 Details	SUNTRACS		Los Pumas

• [*] Won after extra time