Asociación Amateurs de Football

The Asociación Amateurs de Football (AAmF) was a dissident football association of Argentina that organised its own championships from 1919 to 1926. The Argentine Football Association did not recognised those championships until both associations were merged in 1926. Currently all the championships organised by the AAmF are considered officials by the AFA.[2]

Asociación Amateurs de Football
Argentina
Founded22 September 1919[1]
Folded28 November 1926 (1926-11-28)[1]
HeadquartersBuenos Aires
FIFA affiliationNo
PresidentJuan Mignaburu (1919)
A. Beccar Varela (1920–26)

History
Juan Mignaburu, first president of the AAF.
Adrián Beccar Varela presided from 1920 to 1926.

On 16 March 1919, the Primera División season started with 19 teams taking part of the competence.[3] With the 1919 championship still disputing, the conflict began. The Argentine Association rejected representatives from the clubs Estudiantil Porteño, Independiente, Platense, Racing, River Plate and Tigre. As those teams maintained their position, the Association disaffiliated them temporarily.[4]

Meanwhile, other seven clubs, Atlanta, Defensores de Belgrano, Estudiantes (BA), Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP), San Isidro, San Lorenzo and Sportivo Barracas expressed their solidarity with the suspended clubs therefore the association directly expelled them from the body.[4] With only 10 fixtures played, the championship was suspended and all the matches played until then were annulled.[3] The breakage was related with (among other reasons) the brown amateurism, an undercover way of professionalism where the clubs informally paid salaries and special prizes to their players.[5]

The 13 clubs that had been disaffiliated or expelled from the AFA joined forces to form a new association with the purpose to organise their own championships. The "Asociación Amateurs de Football" was officially established on 22 September 1919, with an assembly held in the Jockey Club on 6 December.[4]

On the other hand, Boca Juniors, Estudiantes (LP), Eureka, Huracán, Porteño and Sportivo Almagro remained affiliated to the official body. On 28 September, both competitions started, the official (AFA) with only those six teams and the dissident (AAmF) with 14 teams (including the addition of Vélez Sarsfield).[3]

Because of the conflict that made the official championship take longer than expected, The AFA tournament was ended up. As a result, Boca Juniors (that was placed 1st at the moment of the decision) was crowned champion with still 14 matches to be played.[6] The AAmF championship was won by Racing Club.[7]

After seven years of championships held that including the trespassing of clubs from a body to another, on 19 November 1926, President of Argentina Marcelo T. de Alvear called both associations to a reconciliation meeting that laid the foundations for a reunification.[8] As a condition to reach an agreement, the AAmF required that all the teams that had played the 1926 AAmF championship (26 in total) remained in Primera División. It was conceded and both associations finally merged on 28 December 1926.[1]

The AAmF also organised its own national cup, the Copa de Competencia, with four editions between 1920 and 1926.

Founding members

Champions

See also

Notes
  1. Reserve teams.

References
  1. Historia on AFA website
  2. Campeones de Primera División, AFA website
  3. Argentina 1919 on RSSSF.com
  4. "Memoria y Balance Asociación Amateurs de Football 1919–1921" – AFA website
  5. "¿A qué hora jugamos?" by Luis M. Leguizamón, Static editions
  6. Argentina: 1ra. División Asociación Argentina 1919, 19 December 2008
  7. Argentina: 1ra. División Asociacion Amateurs 1919 by José Carluccio, 20 December 2008
  8. "Un poco de historia" Archived 2 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
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