Primera División Peruana 2008

The 2008 season of the Primera División Peruana, the top category of Peruvian football (soccer), will be played with 14 teams. The tournament started on February 17. At first, the tournament was to be played with 14 teams. Then in December 2007, the FPF unanimously voted that the tournament be played with 13 teams. [cite web |title=Descentralizado 2008 se jugará con trece equipos|work=futbolperuano.com |url=http://www.peru.com/futbol/AutoNoticias/FutbolPortada/2007/12/27/DetalleNoticia98921.asp |accessdate=2007-12-28] [cite web |title=Torneo del 2008 se jugaría con 14 equipos |work=Futbolperuano.com |url=http://www.peru.com/futbol/AutoNoticias/FutbolPortada/2007/11/27/DetalleNoticia97773.asp |accessdate=2007-11-27] In January 2008, the FPF reconsidered their decision after an appeal made by the ADFP and a 14th team was promoted. [cite web |title=El torneo peruano se jugará con 14 equipos|work=futbolperuano.com |url=http://www.peru.com/futbol/AutoNoticias/FutbolPortada/2008/01/10/DetalleNoticia99271.asp |accessdate=2008-01-10]

The national championship is divided into two half-year tournaments, the Torneo Apertura and the Torneo Clausura. Each is played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The winners of each will play for the national title in a playoff, but each team has to finish in the top 7 in both tournaments to earn the right to play the final; if the same club wins both tournaments, it will win the national championship automatically. Following-season Copa Libertadores berths go to each half-year tournament winner, and the best of the other teams in the aggregate table. The next best two teams earn berths for the Copa Sudamericana. The bottom two teams in the aggregate table are relegated.

With regard to foreign players, Peruvians teams are limited to three players without Peruvian citizenship per game. For each game, the team presents a list of 18 players; 11 on the field and 7 on the bench. In that list, no more than 3 players can be foreign players. Peruvian teams must also have its U-20 players (born after 1989) accumulate at least 1,170 minutes of game time.

Teams

Aggregate table

International competitions

*Copa Libertadores 2008:U. San Martin - fourth place in Group 5 with 6 points; eliminated.:Coronel Bolognesi - fourth place in Group 4 with 2 points; eliminated.:Cienciano - beat Montevideo Wanderers of Uruguay in Preliminary Round; third place in Group 4 with 7 points; eliminated.

*Copa Sudamericana 2008:Sport Ancash - beat Ñublense in First Round; eliminated in Round of 16 by Palmeiras.:Universitario de Deportes - eliminated in Preliminary Round by Deportivo Quito.

References

External links

* [http://www.rsssf.com/tablesp/peru08.html Peru 2008 season] at RSSSF
* [http://www.peru.com/futbol Peruvian Football] League News es