The Ecuadorian Football Federation was the entity responsible for the organization of the national football championship until the edition that took place in 2018. As of 2019, the tournament is managed by an institution that was founded only for a short time: the Professional League. In 2023, the so-called Pro League is preparing to open its fifth competition this Friday, with a duel between Deportivo Cuenca and Liga de Quito.

2023 Pro League Date 1 Fixtures

Founded in September 2015, it was not until the 2019 championship that the Pro League took over and developed its first football tournament. Decisions are made by the so-called The Council of Presidents, which “consisted of the presidents or authorized delegates of all clubs participating in the first category A and B”.

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These are some interesting facts and striking facts of the Pro League Championship, from 2019 to the 2022 tournament.

DT with more final losses. Since 2019, the year in which Liga Pro took over the organization of the national championship, Uruguayan Pablo Repetto is the coach who has lost the most finals. In that first year, at the helm of the Liga de Quito, the Uruguayan saw Delfín dedicate himself to the penalty shootout at the Jocay Stadium in Manta. In 2020, Repetto as the helmsman of Azucene fell in the final. It was against Barcelona SC, who were crowned in the second leg at Rodrigo Paz, also on penalties.

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There are no double champions. Neither Delfín, Barcelona SC nor Independiente del Valle were able to successfully defend their Pro League titles won in 2019, 2020 and 2021, respectively. In the 2023 campaign, Aucas will aim to be the first team with two consecutive championship titles with the competition organized by the Professional League.

Six finalist teams. The Pro League has been running the Ecuadorian football tournament since 2019 and since that year six teams have played in the finals: Liga de Quito, Barcelona SC (both teams twice), Delfín Emelec, Independiente del Valle and Aucas.

No title. Emelec, which won four national crowns between 2013 and 2017, is one of the clubs considered big in Ecuador that has failed to make the Olympic rounds since the Professional League organized the championship. The situation is the same in the League of Quito.

Unpublished champions. In three of the four editions of the Pro League tournament, the Ecuadorian championship title went to clubs that have never been Serie A champions: Delfín (2019), Independiente del Valle (2021) and Aucas (2022).

There are no direct coronations. The professional league, which succeeded the FEF as the entity responsible for the tournament in 2019, has had no teams in its competitions win the title outright, without a final. The winner of the first stage in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 could not retain the second stage and in all cases there was a final.

The technician who wins the most. Argentinian Fabián Bustos, since the Pro League reigns in the national championship, is the coach with the most awards: two stars (one with Delfín, 2019; the other with Barcelona SC in 2020, both times against Liga de Quito and in the penalty shootout). (D)