CHILE · SOCCER
Key Facts
- The country Chile is a South American country whose professional football is run by the ANFP, the national professional football association, with promotion and relegation between divisions. Its second tier, the Primera B, has 16 clubs this season.
- Why it matters A disciplinary verdict one round before the season ends can change the champion, the promotion playoff and the relegation place at the same time. It is also a test of how strictly Chilean football enforces rules on club financial reporting.
- Why now The ANFP’s disciplinary tribunal voted 6-1 on Tuesday 27 October 2026, and the last round of the regular season is scheduled from Friday 30 October to Sunday 1 November.
- What happened The tribunal’s First Chamber disaffiliated San Marcos de Arica, a club from the northern city of Arica, and threw out a separate complaint against Puerto Montt on procedural grounds.
- The numbers Both rulings passed 6-1. San Marcos was sixth with 43 points after 29 of 30 rounds, while Cobreloa and San Luis led on 54 points each.
- What it means for you For US readers the story has no direct legal or market link; it matters to followers of Chilean football and to anyone watching how Latin American leagues police club finances.
- Still open Whether the club wins an appeal, which must be filed within five days of the written sentence expected on Friday 30 October, and how the final table is counted.
- Power Index Chile ranks 3rd of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 63.6 points (October 2026 edition).
In Plain English
The ANFP is the Asociación Nacional de Fútbol Profesional, the association of Chile’s professional clubs, and it runs its own disciplinary courts. The Tribunal de Disciplina has a First Chamber that rules on cases and a Second Chamber that hears appeals.
The Primera B, also called the Liga de Ascenso, is Chile’s second division, with 16 clubs this season. Its champion is promoted directly, a playoff decides a second promotion place, and the last-placed club drops to the Segunda División.
Disaffiliation, or desafiliación, is the removal of a club from the ANFP, and with it from the competition, as ADN Deportes described the sanction. A coadyuvante is a third party that joins a complaint in support of the main complainant.
The disciplinary tribunal of Chile’s professional football association, the ANFP, voted 6-1 on Tuesday 27 October 2026 to disaffiliate San Marcos de Arica, a second-division club from the northern city of Arica. The ruling came one round before the end of the Primera B regular season, so it reaches the title race, the playoff places and the relegation fight at once.
The club can appeal to the tribunal’s Second Chamber within five days of being notified of the written sentence, which is expected on Friday 30 October. The same tribunal threw out a complaint against Puerto Montt, another Primera B club, without examining the facts.
What the Tribunal Decided
The complaint was filed by the ANFP’s board, and Rangers de Talca, Unión San Felipe and Santa Cruz joined it as supporting parties. All three were fighting relegation, and ADN Deportes noted that bottom-table clubs could benefit if San Marcos drops out.
The First Chamber accepted the main request of the complaint and imposed disaffiliation by six votes to one. A note in the verdict records that one member of the majority wants the penalty to carry the effects of article 87 of the 2026 Primera B rules, which count every match of the sanctioned club as a 3-0 loss unless the opponent won by more.
The single dissenting vote preferred one of the subsidiary requests, under article 85 of the ANFP rules in force when the facts occurred, which sends the file to the Council of Club Presidents to decide on a proposed disaffiliation. The verdict gives no reasons, and the written sentence is still to follow.
The tribunal’s secretary, Simón Marín, told Cooperativa that the verdict has been communicated to the clubs and that the written sentence is expected on Friday. Asked why the ruling came one round before the end of the season, he said the case reached the tribunal no more than three weeks ago and that deciding it in that time is within the normal deadlines, ADN Deportes reported.
The complaint against Deportes Puerto Montt, filed by Curicó Unido, Rangers de Talca, Santa Cruz and Unión San Felipe, failed on a technicality, because the chamber voted 6-1 that the complaining clubs lacked standing to bring it. The dissenting vote would have rejected that objection and ruled on the substance, so the facts were never examined.
Why the ANFP Went After San Marcos De Arica
The tribunal has not published its reasons, so the grounds come from the ANFP complaint as described by Chilean outlets. BioBioChile and La Tercera described the charges as administrative breaches, while Primera B Chile described them as submitting false documents to the ANFP.
ADN Deportes, citing the filing, reported that it targets four sworn declarations of working capital, for the quarters closed in September 2024 and in March, June and September 2025, that the ANFP says do not match the club’s audited accounts. Those are the same four quarters the ANFP tried to add to its first case, according to the First Chamber’s 29 September sentence, while La Tercera lists the months as October 2024 and April, July and October 2025.
For September 2024, the club declared positive working capital of about 988 million pesos (US$0.99 million), while its audited accounts for the end of that year showed negative equity of about 1.89 billion pesos (US$1.90 million), ADN Deportes reported. For September 2025 the declared figure was about 904 million pesos (US$0.91 million) against audited negative equity of more than 2.9 billion pesos (more than US$2.9 million) at the close of that year, converted at the central bank’s observed dollar of 994.29 pesos per US$ on 27 October 2026.
According to ADN Deportes, the ANFP asked for disaffiliation or, if the tribunal judged the documents altered rather than false, relegation to the Segunda División after the 2026 season. San Marcos has said it will prove that its conduct was fully legal.
An earlier ANFP complaint over the club’s first-quarter 2026 declaration ended on 29 September, when the First Chamber unanimously rejected the charge of false documents and fined the club 500 Unidades de Fomento (UF), about US$20,700 at the UF value of 41,226.39 pesos (US$41.46) on 27 October, for failing to give the ANFP the records of a debt capitalization on time. On 22 October the Second Chamber declared inadmissible an appeal by Rangers, Unión San Felipe and Santa Cruz against that sentence, because the ANFP, the complainant, had not appealed.
What Changes in the Primera B Table
Before the ruling, San Marcos was sixth with 43 points after 29 of 30 rounds, inside the playoff places, while Cobreloa and San Luis led on 54 points each, according to the T13 table updated on 25 October. The key is article 87 of the Primera B rules, which La Tercera quoted as treating a club that loses its category as last in the table, with all its matches counted as 3-0 losses.
BioBioChile, ADN Deportes and Chilevisión calculated that Cobreloa and San Luis would each gain three points and reach 57 under that rule. ADN Deportes added that Santiago Wanderers would gain four points and reach 54, because it drew both of its games against San Marcos.
Chilevisión wrote that Cobreloa would then need only a draw at home against Puerto Montt to take the title, while a Cobreloa defeat could force a deciding match with San Luis. La Tercera, however, wrote that points are not transferred to opponents that did not beat San Marcos on the pitch, so the table does not move.
Primera B Chile wrote that the table will not move until the sentence is final, meaning until the Second Chamber has ruled on any appeal. On the virtual table San Marcos would finish last, which BioBioChile said would save Rangers, Unión San Felipe and Santa Cruz from the single relegation place.
The final round runs from Friday 30 October to Sunday 1 November, with Cobreloa hosting Puerto Montt in Calama and San Marcos hosting San Luis at the Estadio Carlos Dittborn in Arica, both on Saturday 31 October at 5:30 p.m. in Chile (4:30 p.m. ET), according to the ANFP schedule as published by RedGol. That schedule predates the ruling, and ADN Deportes says the Arica match would be assigned to San Luis as a 3-0 win, so whether it is still played is not confirmed.
The Appeal Route and the Court Fight
San Marcos has five days to appeal to the Second Chamber once the written sentence is notified, which the tribunal secretary expects on Friday 30 October. ADN Deportes and the club’s own statement call them business days, which matches article 2 of the ANFP procedure code and would put the last day at Friday 6 November if notice is served on Friday 30 October, while Cooperativa counted Wednesday 4 November.
The club said the verdict is not a final resolution and that it has not yet been told the factual and legal grounds, in a statement carried by ADN Deportes and Primera B Chile. It added that it will use every legal instrument available, in the sports system and in the ordinary courts, and asked fans to stay calm.
ADN Deportes wrote that a negative result could take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, known by its Spanish initials TAS, or to the Chilean legal system. Primera B Chile described the Second Chamber as the last instance inside the ANFP system.
In a parallel move, the club asked the Arica Court of Appeals to reconsider its 9 October decision declaring a protection action against the ANFP inadmissible, La Tercera reported. The club alleges a conflict of interest, saying an ANFP board member who voted to file the complaint also holds a stake in Santa Cruz, one of the supporting complainants.
A Rio Times explainer on the Primera B disaffiliation rules covers how the system works beyond this case. An earlier ANFP rulebook dispute, over Colo-Colo’s jerseys, is covered in a Rio Times report on Colo-Colo and ANFP article 36.
What It Means for You
For US readers the story has no direct legal or market link, but it matters to anyone following Chilean football, planning to attend the 31 October matches in Arica or Calama, or tracking how Latin American leagues police club finances. The case turns on sworn financial statements, a reminder that reporting rules can reshape a sporting table.
Fans watching from the US can follow the ANFP website, which publishes tribunal verdicts, for the written sentence due Friday 30 October that starts the five-day appeal clock. More on the country is in the Rio Times Chile section.
What Is Not Known
The tribunal’s reasons are not public yet, so the exact grounds are unconfirmed, and outlets differ on which months of sworn declarations are at issue. The club says it will prove its conduct was legal, and the Second Chamber could uphold, soften or reverse the penalty.
It is unclear whether the article 87 effects apply to the table now, in the final round or only once the sentence is final, because outlets read the ruling in different ways. No recalculated table from the ANFP appeared in the coverage read.
The verdict and the coverage do not say what happens to the players, contracts and staff of San Marcos, or whether the match against San Luis goes ahead. The outcome of the club’s request to the Arica Court of Appeals, and the ANFP’s answer to the conflict-of-interest allegation, are also not in the coverage read.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does disaffiliation mean for a Chilean football club?
Disaffiliation is the removal of a club from the ANFP, which La Tercera called the most radical sanction the institution allows. It is not final yet, because the club can still appeal.
Can San Marcos de Arica still appeal?
Yes, it has five business days after the written sentence is notified, expected on Friday 30 October, to appeal to the tribunal’s Second Chamber. The club says it will use every legal avenue, including the ordinary courts.
What happened to Puerto Montt in the same session?
The tribunal rejected the complaint against Puerto Montt by 6-1 because the four clubs that filed it lacked standing. The facts of the complaint were never examined.
How could the Primera B table change?
BioBioChile and ADN Deportes calculate that Cobreloa and San Luis would each rise to 57 points if San Marcos’s matches count as 3-0 losses. La Tercera says the table does not move, so the outcome is not settled.
When is the last round of the Primera B?
The final round runs from Friday 30 October to Sunday 1 November, with Cobreloa against Puerto Montt and San Marcos against San Luis both on Saturday 31 October at 5:30 p.m. in Chile. That schedule was published before the ruling.
Sources: ANFP, First Chamber verdict on San Marcos de Arica, 27 October 2026; ANFP, First Chamber verdict on Deportes Puerto Montt, 27 October 2026; ANFP, Second Chamber resolution, 22 October 2026; ANFP, First Chamber sentence in the first San Marcos case, 29 September 2026; ANFP, Procedure and Penalties Code; Central Bank of Chile observed dollar via mindicador.cl, 27 October 2026; Central Bank of Chile Unidad de Fomento value via mindicador.cl, 27 October 2026; Cooperativa, 27 October 2026; BioBioChile, 27 October 2026; La Tercera, 27 October 2026; La Tercera on the Arica Court of Appeals filing, 27 October 2026; ADN Radio, 27 October 2026; ADN Radio on the table, 27 October 2026; ADN Radio on the tribunal secretary, 27 October 2026; ADN Radio on the club statement, 28 October 2026; ADN Radio on the ANFP complaint, 29 September 2026; Chilevisión, 27 October 2026; Primera B Chile, club reaction, 27 October 2026; Primera B Chile, case background, 27 October 2026; T13, Primera B table and format, updated 25 October 2026; RedGol, final-round schedule.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief