Apertura and Clausura

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Light-green - countries with Apertura and Clausura tournaments during calendar year; Orange - countries with "European system"; Number 1 shows countries where the Apertura and Clausura are only parts of a larger tournament.

The Apertura and Clausura tournaments are a recent innovation for many Latin American football leagues in which the traditional European association football season from August to May is divided in two sections per season, each with its own champion. Apertura and Clausura are the Spanish words for "opening" and "closing". In French-speaking Haiti, these are known as the Ouverture and the Clôture.

The Apertura is held in the first half of the calendar year in Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Panama and Paraguay while it is held in the second half of the calendar year in Argentina, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Uruguay and Venezuela.

In the leagues of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay^[1] and Panama, each section of the year constitutes a national championship in itself; on the other hand, in the leagues of Nicaragua, Uruguay and Venezuela, the Apertura and Clausura are parts of a larger tournament, and the winners are not national champions, but usually play each other in a playoff for the season title, or there is a final stage where teams qualify based on placements in the Apertura and Clausura. Thus, two championship titles are awarded per year in the first group of leagues, and only one in the second.

In Mexico, for instance, the winners of each tournament play each other at the beginning of the following season for another title, but this is a rather minor season curtain-raiser, akin to national Super Cups in European leagues. Relegations, if any, are done on an aggregate basis; usually the combined table for both tournaments determine relegation placement(s). In the Argentine and Mexican leagues, the average points over the previous three seasons are used to determine relegation.

Peru and Ecuador have abolished their Apertura and Clausura formats and adopted new formats.

The Apertura and Clausura format can be seen as a means to fill in the gaps caused by the inherent lack of elimination cup competitions in most Latin American nations.

The Brazilian national league is the only one in Latin America not to split the season into two parts, using a single-season double round-robin format to decide the champions, similar to those in European leagues, though played between April and December. Uruguay is planning to return to this system in 2010. The last single season in Uruguay was held in 1993. Argentina would also adopt the single season format, as stated by AFA president Grondona in December 2008.^[2] Brazilian clubs also participate in the state leagues from January to April. Brazil also has, unlike the Spanish-speaking nations, a national cup.

For most of its history (except in 1996, 2002, and 2003) the J. League in Japan had a similar system, although it was called 1st Stage and 2nd Stage. The seasons became unified permanently in 2005, partially to avoid conflicts with the Emperor's Cup. The K-League of South Korea also had the same system in 1984, 1986, 1995, 2004, 2005, and 2006. In 2007, it again became unified because of confusion among fans.

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