The 2002 Torneo Descentralizado was the 86th season of the top category of Peruvian football (soccer). It was played by 12 teams. The national champion was Sporting Cristal.Sporting Cristal campeón 2002Sporting Cristal: el día que Paulo Autuori salió campeón con los celestesEl Sporting Cristal, campeón de Peru e irá a la Libertadores
Competition modus The national championship was divided into two and half-year tournaments, the Torneo Apertura and the Torneo Clausura. Each was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The winners of each would play for the national title in a playoff, but a team had to finish in the top 4 in both tournaments to earn the right to play the final. If the same club had won both tournaments, it would have won the national championship automatically.
Following-season Copa Libertadores berths went to each half-year tournament winner, and the best-placed team in the aggregate table. The two bottom teams on the aggregate table were relegated, but a playoff had to be played between the 10th- and 11th-placed teams since both obtained the same number of points (goal difference did not count as a tie-breaker).
Teams Team changes Promoted from2001 Copa Perú Relegated from2001 Primera División Coronel Bolognesi Unión Minas
Stadia locations
Team City Stadium Capacity Alianza Atlético Sullana Campeones del 368,000 Alianza Lima Lima Alejandro Villanueva35,000 Cienciano Cuzco Garcilaso 42,056 Coronel Bolognesi Tacna Jorge Basadre 19,850 Deportivo Wanka Huancayo Huancayo 20,000 Estudiantes de Medicina Ica José Picasso Peratta 8,000 Juan Aurich Chiclayo Elías Aguirre 24,500 Melgar Arequipa Mariano Melgar 20,000 Sport Boys Callao Miguel Grau 15,000 Sport Coopsol Trujillo Trujillo Mansiche 24,000 Sporting Cristal Lima San Martín de Porres 18,000 Universitario Lima Monumental80,093
Torneo Apertura
Standings
Results
Apertura playoff
Torneo Clausura Standings
Results
Final playoff
No final playoff was played since the Apertura winner Universitario did not finish in the Clausura's top 4, while Sporting Cristal won the Clausura after placing third in the Apertura.
Aggregate table
Relegation play-off
Top scorers RankScorerClubGoals1 Luis ArtimeMelgar242 Sergio IbarraAlianza Atlético223 Germán CartyCienciano18 Antonio SerranoSport Boys185 Ernesto ZapataCienciano15
Torneo Sub-20 Alongside the Torneo Descentralizado, an Under-20 Tournament was held, featuring U-20 players from top-flight clubs. Unlike the reserve team competitions played between 1931 and 1934, this tournament did not award any bonus points to the senior teams’ league standings.Torneo Sub-20 - Tabla de Posiciones ClausuraAlianza Lima campeón Torneo Sub-20
The tournament was played from February through December 8 and followed a two-round format (Apertura and Clausura). Torneo Clausura
See also 2002 Peruvian Segunda División 2002 Copa Perú
References
External links Peru 2002 season Details on RSSSF