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Goa Football Association
Sport	Football
Jurisdiction	Goa
Membership	2 district associations
Abbreviation	GFA
Founded	1959; (as Associação de Futebol de Goa)
Affiliation	All India Football Federation (AIFF)
Headquarters	Panaji
President	Caitano Fernandes
Vice president(s)	Antonio Pango (Senior); Jonathan Rjf De Sousa;
Secretary	Lector Mascarenhas
Other key staff	Schubert Furtado (Treasurer);
Official website
	www.gfagoa.com

The Goa Football Association (abbr. GFA) is the governing body of football in Goa.^[2]^[3] It is affiliated with the All India Football Federation, the national governing body. It sends state teams for Santosh Trophy and Senior Women's National Football Championship.

Caitano Fernandes heads GFA as its current president. The GFA's premier competition is the Goa Professional League.^[4]

History

The Goa Football Association (Portuguese: Associação de Futebol de Goa) was founded on 22 December 1959. The federation conducted its first Goan State League in 1959 also under the name of Goa Primeira Divisão or Goa First Division with Clube Independente de Margao becoming the champions. The GFA then started the Goa Senior League in 1969, which was supposed to be the new first division of Goa, but later disbanded the league. Then for the 1970-71 season they turned the league into a two division First Division, North Division and South Division. They then introduced the a Second Division and Third Division from 1971-72.

The GFA then started the Goa Super Division in 1977 with Salgaocar S.C. being the champions. With football globally continuing to develop at a fast pace, the Goa Football Association decided it was time to push the game onto a higher platform. Goa emerged as the first state in India to go professional.^{[citation needed]}

The GFA then revamped the National State League by forming the Goa Professional League in 1997 with Salgaocar coming out as champions. The Professional League was expanded to six teams from the 2000-01 season, after the GFA increased the competitiveness factor. Since 2002 the league was played as an eight team home-and-away format, making it 14 matches for each club. The GFA then announced that the 2011 season would be played with 10 teams under a new format.^{[citation needed]}

State teams

Men

Women

Affiliated district associations

Both districts of Goa are affiliated with the Goa Football Association.

No.	Association	District	President
1	North Goa District Football Association	North Goa
2	South Goa District Football Association	South Goa

Competitions

Club Level

Men's Senior

Women's Senior

Goa Women's League

Youth

GFA U-18 League Division I
GFA U-18 League Division II
GFA U-15 League Division I
GFA U-13 League Division I
GFA U-13 League Division II

Futsal

Late Jaju GFA Futsal League

Goa Football League pyramid

The Goa Football League consists of the Goa Professional League as highest level, followed by the lower divisions.^[5]

Goa Football League
Tier	Division
I _{(Level 5 on Indian football pyramid)}	Goa Professional League 13 clubs
II _{(Level 6 on Indian football pyramid)}	Goa First Division 14 clubs
III _{(Level 7 on Indian football pyramid)}	Goa Second Division 79 clubs Ilhas Zone Salcete Zone Bardez Zone Mormugao Zone
IV _{(Level 8 on Indian football pyramid)}	Goa Third Division 128 clubs Ilhas Zone Salcete Zone Bardez Zone Mormugao Zone

References

^ Goa Football Association Archived 30 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine. discoverfootball.de. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
^ Chaudhuri, Arunava (31 October 1999). "NEWS FOR THE MONTH OF October 1999 — 18 October". indianfootball.de. Indian Football Network. Archived from the original on 29 March 2005. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
^ Mergulhao, Marcus (4 June 2023). "GFA Awards Night: Socorro gets Lifetime Achievement Award; Cia, Mark Players of the Year". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Margao: The Times of India. TNN. Archived from the original on 4 June 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
^ List of Champions of the Goa Football League (Goa Pro League) Archived 2020-08-02 at the Wayback Machine indianfootball.de. Retrieved 23 July 2021
^ None, None (15 May 2024). "GFA Leagues". The Official Website of Goa Football Association. Open Publishing. Retrieved 15 May 2024.