The popular first-division league will expand to 30 teams during a presidential election year in 2015
Argentina''s popular first-division football league will be expanded in 2015, a move seen as political but unlikely to help pull clubs out of chronic financial troubles.
The Argentine Football Association (AFA) said in a statement Wednesday that its executive committee voted unanimously to expand the roster to 30 teams from 20 and put the tournament on a year-long schedule.
That ends more than two decades of running twice-yearly tournaments.
AFA president Julio Grondona said the move will increase the participation of clubs from across the nation, not just the traditional hotspots of Buenos Aires and Santa Fe.
This will make the tournament ''fairer,'' he said in a speech.
Argentina is known as a country mad about the sport that has produced world greats like Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi. Stadiums fill up on weekends, often shaking under the jumping feet of fans who chose their life-long teams at early ages – or even are born into teams.
