Central American Leagues Join Forces in Nicaragua to Spark Regional Football Reform


Central America’s top-flight football leagues gathered this week in Managua for the second official summit hosted by the World Leagues Association, as reported by Inside World Football. The event marked a significant step toward greater collaboration, with league executives from six countries meeting to address shared challenges and opportunities in the region’s domestic game.
Organized in partnership with Nicaragua’s Liga Primera, the summit welcomed officials from Costa Rica’s UNAFUT, El Salvador’s Primera División, Honduras’ Liga Nacional, Panama’s Liga Panameña, Belize’s Premier League, and the host league, alongside invited guests from Ecuador’s LigaPro and Suriname’s Major League.
Key topics included professionalisation, youth development, and refereeing standards. Ahead of the event, the World Leagues Association conducted a regional survey to establish a foundation for targeted reforms. FIFA representatives led sessions on officiating and introduced new global technologies being piloted for match regulation.
Despite varying national contexts, most leagues share structural obstacles: fragile commercial revenues, fragmented governance, and outdated infrastructure. To address these, the leagues agreed to form regional working groups aimed at concrete improvements—potentially laying the groundwork for broader competitive integration.
The summit underscored a growing consensus that regional unity is vital for Central America’s football ecosystem to thrive commercially and professionally. The momentum will continue in 2026, when Honduras’ Liga Nacional hosts the next summit to further the push for reform.










