The Liga Dominicana de Fútbol is the first professional football league in the Dominican Republic, it was launched in March 2015. For sponsorship reasons it is known as LDF Banco Popular.
History Prior to the league's establishment, football in the Dominican Republic was only played in a semi-pro level.
To address the issue and to raise the status of football in the country, the Dominican Football Federation has decided to implement the idea of a new professional league in the country, to attract more people into the sport. Thus, the Liga Dominicana de Fútbol was approved, as an attempt to raise the country's football profile. The first season began in 2014.
Jarabacoa FC gets Relegated for the 2024 Season On 2 February 2024, the Official Jarabacoa FC account on X announced they will not participate in the 2024 season in desire to maintain and improve their turf along with general improvements to their Stadium. The 2024 season will feature the previous 8 teams from the 2023 season.
Competition format In the first three installments, each team played 18 matches in the regular season with the 4 teams with most points qualifying for the playoffs. The champion was decided in a single-legged final.
The 2018 season grew from 10 to 12 teams with the arrival of San Francisco de Macoris (Atlético) and Bayaguana (Inter). Since Delfines from the Eastern part of the country joined, the LDF now had a team in each of the seven provinces and the National District, and the only professional league with a team in the South region San Cristóbal.
The tournament featured 132 regular series matches. Each team played 22 games in the regular phase (instead of the 18 of the first three editions), and the six highest scoring advanced to the second phase, where they played one against all in a round. The best four then advanced to a semi-final with round-trip matches. The winners had a championship in a single match, which extends the league calendar to 152 matches from 95 in 2017.
As a novelty, the LDF 2018 season had a national and international television transmission chain that brought the small screen 60 matches at the local level and a number of meetings to be defined that will be taken to at least five nations of the region, including the United States and Mexico.
The 2019 tournament of the Liga Dominicana de Futbol started with 12 teams. The event brought up a new format in which each of the twelve clubs can have up to 6 foreign players on their payroll.
The new format includes an "Apertura" and a "Clausura" tournament, both will be played one round and have been agreed with the twelve clubs and also with CONCACAF. The "Apertura" will have a semifinal with the four best teams and then a final, as well as the "Clausura".
The champion of each tournament will then compete to win the qualification to the CONCACAF championship tournament. Another club will qualify for the CONCACAF tournament, accumulating the most points in both tournaments.
Teams
Team City Stadium (capacity) Image Founded First season Head coach LDF Cibao F.C. Santiago Estadio Cibao FC (10,000) 2014 2015 Jorge Alfonso Atlético Vega Real La Vega Estadio Olímpico (La Vega) (7,000) 2014 2015 Jose Rodriguez Moca F.C. Moca Estadio Complejo Deportivo Moca 86 (2,000) 1971 2015 Ronald Batista Atlántico F.C. Puerto Plata Estadio Leonel Plácido (2,000) 2014 2015 Lenín José Bastidas Bello C.A. San Cristóbal San Cristóbal Estadio Panamericano (3,000) 2014 2015 Froilán Hidalgo Delfines Del Este F.C. Santo Domingo Estadio Parque del Este (2,300) 2014 2015 Juan Carlos Gastón Universidad O&M F.C. Santo Domingo Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez (27,000) 2010 2015 Martín Arriola C.A. Pantoja Santo Domingo Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez (27,000) 1999 2015 Orlando Capellino Jarabacoa FC Jarabacoa Estadio de Fútbol Junior Mejía (1,800) 2018 2023 Ramón Calderon Salcedo FC Salcedo Estadio Domingo Polonia (2,000) 1992 2025
Former Teams Team City Stadium (capacity) First season Last season Head coach Record W/T/L Club Barcelona Atlético Santo Domingo Estadio Parque del Este (3,500) 2015 201925/28/40 Bauger F.C. Santo Domingo Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez (27,000) 2015 2017 Jorge Rolando Baguer 24/06/24 Inter de Bayaguana Bayaguana Estadio Bayaguana (1,000) 2018 20192/4/16 Atlético San Francisco San Francisco de Macorís Complejo Deportivo Juan Pablo Duarte (2,500) 2017 2022 Daniel Álvarez 26/15/28
Champions + Results by year Year Play-off Champions (Champions) Regular Season (Regular Season) Runner-up Top Scorer(s) Top Scorer's Club Goals 2015 Pantoja Bauger Atlántico FC Jonathan Faña Bauger 17 2016 Barcelona Atlético Barcelona Atlético Cibao Anderson Arias Club Barcelona Atlético 11 2017 Atlántico FC Cibao FC Atlético Pantoja Armando Maita, Mauro Gomez, Woodensky Cherenfant Club Atlético Pantoja, Atlántico FC, Cibao FC 10 2018 Cibao FC Atlético de San Francisco Atlético de San Francisco Fredys Arrieta Atlético de San Francisco 18 2019 Pantoja Cibao FC Cibao FC Pablo Marisi Club Atlético Pantoja 13 2020 O&M FC Cibao FC, O&M FC Delfines del Este FC Daniel Jamesley O&M FC 7 2021 Cibao FC Cibao FC Atlético Vega Real Juan David Díaz Sánchez Atlético Pantoja 18 2022 Cibao FC Cibao FC Atlético Pantoja Gustavo Azcona Moca FC 14 2023 Cibao FC Cibao FC Moca FC Oscar Leonardo Becerra Gamboa Atlantico FC 18 2024 Cibao FC Cibao FC O&M FC Rivaldo Correa and Luis Espinal Cibao FC 21 Transition Tournament 2025 – Copa LDF Cibao FC Cibao FC Delfines del Este FC Rivaldo Correa Cibao FC 9 2025–26 Salcedo FC Cibao FC Cibao FC Daniel Jamesley Salcedo FC 20
Most goals PlacePlayerCountryTeam (s)Goals1Anderson Arias VenezuelaAtlántico FC (2015)Club Barcelona Atlético (2016)O&M FC (2017) (2018)Atletico San Francisco472Pablo Marsini ArgentinaAtlantico FC (2017)Cibao FC (2018)Club Atlético Pantoja (2019)383Domingo Peralta Dominican RepublicCibao FC (2015–2017) (2018)Moca FC (2019)Atletico Vega Real (2020–)O&M FC374Daniel Jamesley HaitiJarabacoa FC (2018) (2019–)O&M FC375Charles Herold Jr. HaitiCibao FC (2015–)366Luis Espinal Dominican RepublicClub Atlético Pantoja (2015–2019)Cibao FC (2021–)Moca FC 337Jonathan Faña Dominican RepublicBauger FC (2015)Cibao FC (2016)Moca FC (2017)Club Atlético Pantoja (2018) 308Sam Colson HaitiCibao FC (2015–2017)Atletico San Cristobal (2018)Atletico Vega Real (2018) 309Berthame Dine HaitiAtlántico FC (2015)Atlético Vega Real (2016–)2510Bony Pierre HaitiBauger FC (2015–2016)Club Barcelona Atlético (2017–)21
Stadiums and locations
Current LDF stadiums Atlántico FC Estadio Leonel Plácido
Capacity: 2,000 Atlético San Cristóbal Estadio Panamericano
Capacity: 2,000 Club Atlético Pantoja | Universidad O&M FC Estadio Felix Sanchez
Capacity: 27,000 Delfines Del Este Estadio Parque del Este
Capacity: 1,000 Estadio Moca FC Estadio Complejo Deportivo Moca 86
Capacity: 4,000 Cibao FC Estadio Cibao FC
Capacity: 4,000 Jarabacoa FC Estadio Junior Mejia
Capacity: 2,000 Atlético Vega Real Estadio Olímpico (La Vega)
Capacity: 2,000 Salcedo FC Estadio Domingo Polonia
Capacity: 2,000
References
External links LDF official website