The 2023 Liga Panameña de Fútbol or 2023 Liga LPF (known as the Liga LPF Tigo for sponsorship reasons) was the 36th season of the Liga Panameña de Fútbol (LPF), the top-flight football league in Panama, and the fourth under the management of the Liga Panameña de Fútbol. The season began on 13 January 2023, when the Apertura tournament started,[1] and ended on 12 November 2023 with the Clausura tournament Final.
Competition format
Same as previous years, the season was divided into two championships: Torneo Apertura and Torneo Clausura. Both Apertura and Clausura were played under the same format which consisted in a Classification stage, where the 12 teams were geographically divided into the Eastern and Western Conferences (6 teams per conference); Play-offs, Semifinals and Final.[2]
Within each conference, teams played each other twice on a double round-robin format (home and away). In addition, each team played one game against all the 6 teams in the opposite conference for a total of 16 games per team in the classification stage. Winners of each conference qualified directly to the semi-finals, whilst the second and third placed teams advanced to the play-offs stage.
The Play-offs stage was played on a single-leg format between the second placed team of each conference against the third placed team of the opposite conference, with the second placed teams hosting the matches. Winners of play-offs advanced to semi-finals to play against the first placed team of each conference on a home-and-away two-legged basis. Winners of the semifinals played the final on a single-leg match at a venue and date determined by the LFP, with highest team ranked in the classification stage acting as the "home" team for administrative purposes.
Locations of the 2023 Liga Panameña de Fútbol teams
A total of 12 teams took part in this season; the top eleven teams from the aggregate table of the 2022 season as well as UMECIT,[2] who were promoted from the 2022 Liga Prom after being champions of both Apertura and Clausura tournaments of the 2022 Liga Prom season.[3] They replaced and took the place in the Western Conference of Veraguas United, the bottom team in the aggregate table of the 2022 season, who were relegated to Liga Prom.
a By regulations, UMECIT took the venue of the relegated Veraguas United in the Western Conference even though its original location is in San Miguelito.[4]
The Torneo Apertura began on 13 January and ended on 27 May with the final.[28]Independiente were the defending champions, having won the Clausura 2022 tournament at the previous season.
Classification phase
The classification phase of the Apertura tournament ran from 13 January to 29 April 2023.
The aggregate table of the Clausura 2022 and Apertura 2023 tournaments was used to determine the Panamanian teams qualified for the 2023 CONCACAF Central American Cup. As Independiente were the champions in both Clausura 2022 and Apertura 2023 tournaments, the remaining two qualified teams were the next two better placed teams in the aggregate table.[30]
The Torneo Clausura began on 21 July and ended on 2 December with the final.[31]Independiente were the two-time defending champions, having won the previous Clausura 2022 and Apertura 2023 tournaments.
Classification phase
The classification phase of the Clausura tournament ran from 21 July to 7 November 2023 (originally 1 November 2023).
Source: LPF, Soccerway Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Bracket
The play-offs, semi-finals and final were originally scheduled to be played between 11 November and 1 December,[31] however, the dates were pushed back in order to facilitate the call-up of players from the Liga Panameña de Fútbol to the Panama national football team during the November FIFA window.[33][34]
Independiente won 4–3 on aggregate and advanced to the final.
Final
The final was scheduled to be played on 9 December 2023 at Estadio Universidad Latina in Penonomé.[35] The team with the best performance in the classification phase (Independiente) acted as the "home" team for administrative purposes.[2]