Bolivia. 13 teams played in the championship, but the league was going to be reduced to 12, so one team was relegated and none promoted. As usual, two-phased season and the title was contested between the winners of first and second stage. The opening stage – standard league format. The winner going to the championship final and the last – relegated. Last was Aurora (Cochabamba) with 10 points. Very weak – they finished 6 points behind the 12th.
Universitario (Sucre) was 12th this year with 16 points.
Ciclon (Tarija) – 11th with 19 points.
San Jose (Oruro) – 10th with 20 points.
Real (Santa Cruz) – 9th with 21 points.
Always Ready (La Paz) – 8th with 25 points. That was the end of the season for those clubs.
The top 7 qualified to the second stage – the number is strange, but that was that and Always Ready may have been victimized: they had the same points as the 7th placed. Why 7 and not 8 teams? Never mind. Destroyers – 7th with 25, Litoral – 6th with 26, Blooming – 5th with 26, Oriente Petrolero – 5th with 29, Jorge Wilstermann – 4th with 29, The Strongest – 2nd with 31 points qualified.
Bolivar won the first stage with 35 points – 15 wins, 5 ties, 4 losses, 52-22. Now it was a matter of waiting for the final and keeping form – the second stage was not important anymore.
In the second stage the teams were divided into 2 groups at first and top 2 in each proceeded to the semifinals.
Group A:
Jorge Wilstermann (Cochabamba) – last with 2 points.
Blooming (Santa Cruz) – 3rd with 4 points.
Destroyers – 2nd with 8 points and going to the semifinals.
Oriente Petrolero – group winners with 10 points. They did not lose even one match.
Group B:
Litoral (La Paz) – 3rd with 2 points.
The Strongest – 2nd with 4 points.
Bolivar – group winner with 6 points.
In the semifinals Bolivar was eliminated by Destroyers 0-0 and 0-2.
Oriente Petrolero (Santa Cruz) lost to The Strongest 1-0 and 1-3. Standing from left: Rómer Roca, Roberto Brunetto, Carlos Leonel Trucco, Marciano Saldías, Claudio Chena (Argentina), Carlos Gabriel Amodeo. Crouching: Wilson Avila, Celio Alves, Víctor Hugo Antelo, Erwin “Chichi” Romero, José Luis Medrano.
In the final of the stage Destroyers (Santa Cruz) lost both legs to The Strongest – 1-3 and 0-2.
And the grand championship final was a La Paz derby, as many times before and after: The Strongest vs Bolivar. Bolivar was stronger than The Strongest and destroyed them 3-0.
The Strongest (La Paz) lost and finished 2nd – always a disappointment for them. Well, next year may be better.
Familiar champion, but a title is always the aim of Bolivar (La Paz). This one was second in a row and 9th altogether. Thus Bolivar became the most successful Bolivian club, besting Jorge Wilstermann, which had 8 titles. The Strongest with their 5 titles trailed quite far behind.