# 2000 Categoría Primera A season

The 2000 Categoría Primera A season, known as Copa Mustang 2000 for sponsoring purposes, was the 53rd season of the Categoría Primera A, Colombia's top-flight football league. The season started on 12 February and ended on 17 December 2000. América de Cali were the champions, clinching their tenth domestic league title with a 2–0 victory over Deportes Tolima on the final day of the season.
Atlético Nacional were the defending champions, but placed seventh in the aggregate table and thus failed to qualify for the final stage of the competition.

## Format

The season was split into three stages: the first two stages were the Apertura and Finalización tournaments, in which the 16 teams were first divided into two groups of eight teams, playing seven games, and then all teams in the league played each other once for a total of 22 matches. The winners of each tournament earned a berth into the 2001 Copa Libertadores. The third and final stage was played by the top four teams of the aggregate table of both tournaments, who played each other twice to decide the champions of the season, who also qualified for the Copa Libertadores. In case the eventual champion had already won the Apertura or Finalización tournaments, the runners-up of the final stage would take the third Copa Libertadores berth as the season's runners-up.

## Teams

16 teams competed in the season, the top 15 teams of the relegation table of the 1999 season and Real Cartagena, who were promoted as champions of the 1999 Categoría Primera B tournament, replacing Unión Magdalena who were relegated at the end of the previous season.
| Team | Home city | Stadium | Capacity |
| América de Cali | Cali | Pascual Guerrero | 45,625 |
| Atlético Bucaramanga | Bucaramanga | Alfonso López | 28,000 |
| Atlético Huila | Neiva | Guillermo Plazas Alcid | 22,000 |
| Atlético Nacional | Medellín | Atanasio Girardot | 52,000 |
| Cortuluá | Tuluá | Doce de Octubre | 16,000 |
| Deportes Quindío | Armenia | Centenario | 29,000 |
| Deportes Tolima | Ibagué | Manuel Murillo Toro | 28,100 |
| Deportivo Cali | Cali | Pascual Guerrero | 45,625 |
| Deportivo Pasto | Pasto | Departamental Libertad | 12,000 |
| Envigado | Envigado | Polideportivo Sur | 11,000 |
| Independiente Medellín | Medellín | Atanasio Girardot | 52,000 |
| Junior | Barranquilla | Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez | 60,000 |
| Millonarios | Bogotá | Nemesio Camacho El Campín | 48,300 |
| Once Caldas | Manizales | Palogrande | 36,553 |
| Real Cartagena | Cartagena | Pedro de Heredia | 16,000 |
| Santa Fe | Bogotá | Nemesio Camacho El Campín | 48,300 |

## Torneo Apertura

The Torneo Apertura (also known as Copa Mustang I) began on 12 February and ended on 2 July.

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Deportivo Cali | 22 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 36 | 22 | +14 | 40 | Qualification for the Copa Libertadores |
| 2 | América de Cali | 22 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 42 | 22 | +20 | 38 | |
| 3 | Deportes Tolima | 22 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 36 | 29 | +7 | 36 | |
| 4 | Millonarios | 22 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 32 | 27 | +5 | 33 | |
| 5 | Atlético Nacional | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 35 | 29 | +6 | 32 | |
| 6 | Junior | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 33 | 27 | +6 | 32 | |
| 7 | Cortuluá | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 30 | 31 | −1 | 32 | |
| 8 | Envigado | 22 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 30 | 25 | +5 | 32 | |
| 9 | Santa Fe | 22 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 32 | 30 | +2 | 31 | |
| 10 | Real Cartagena | 22 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 21 | 23 | −2 | 27 | |
| 11 | Atlético Huila | 22 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 21 | 27 | −6 | 27 | |
| 12 | Once Caldas | 22 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 24 | 31 | −7 | 27 | |
| 13 | Independiente Medellín | 22 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 28 | 34 | −6 | 26 | |
| 14 | Deportivo Pasto | 22 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 27 | 44 | −17 | 22 | |
| 15 | Atlético Bucaramanga | 22 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 16 | 28 | −12 | 21 | |
| 16 | Deportes Quindío | 22 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 24 | 38 | −14 | 21 | |

## Torneo Finalización

The Torneo Finalización (also known as Copa Mustang II) began on 9 July and ended on 26 November. On 17 September 2000, during the 12th round match between Santa Fe and Deportes Tolima, referee Óscar Ruiz disallowed a goal for Santa Fe scored by Jeffrey Díaz after checking the existence of a handball with the help of a replay of the television broadcast of the match.

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | América de Cali | 22 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 40 | 20 | +20 | 48 | Qualification for the Copa Libertadores |
| 2 | Santa Fe | 22 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 33 | 22 | +11 | 43 | |
| 3 | Junior | 22 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 37 | 23 | +14 | 38 | |
| 4 | Millonarios | 22 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 32 | 23 | +9 | 36 | |
| 5 | Deportes Tolima | 22 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 31 | 25 | +6 | 33 | |
| 6 | Once Caldas | 22 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 29 | 19 | +10 | 33 | |
| 7 | Atlético Nacional | 22 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 31 | 34 | −3 | 28 | |
| 8 | Deportivo Pasto | 22 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 29 | 28 | +1 | 28 | |
| 9 | Independiente Medellín | 22 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 28 | 30 | −2 | 27 | |
| 10 | Atlético Bucaramanga | 22 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 23 | 30 | −7 | 27 | |
| 11 | Atlético Huila | 22 | 8 | 2 | 12 | 29 | 39 | −10 | 26 | |
| 12 | Envigado | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 31 | 38 | −7 | 26 | |
| 13 | Real Cartagena | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 23 | 28 | −5 | 24 | |
| 14 | Deportes Quindío | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 26 | 38 | −12 | 24 | |
| 15 | Deportivo Cali | 22 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 31 | 42 | −11 | 21 | |
| 16 | Cortuluá | 22 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 25 | 39 | −14 | 19 | |

## Aggregate table

An aggregate table known as Reclasificación including the games of both tournaments (Apertura and Finalización) was used to determine the four teams that would advance to the final stage of the tournament, as well as the team to be relegated at the end of the season. The top four teams in this table at the end of the Torneo Finalización advanced to the final stage, while the team placed last was relegated to Categoría Primera B for the following season.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | América de Cali | 44 | 25 | 11 | 8 | 82 | 42 | +40 | 86 | Advance to the final stage |
| 2 | Santa Fe | 44 | 21 | 11 | 12 | 65 | 52 | +13 | 74 | Advance to the final stage |
| 3 | Junior | 44 | 19 | 13 | 12 | 70 | 50 | +20 | 70 | Advance to the final stage |
| 4 | Deportes Tolima | 44 | 21 | 6 | 17 | 67 | 54 | +13 | 69 | Advance to the final stage |
| 5 | Millonarios | 44 | 17 | 18 | 9 | 64 | 50 | +14 | 69 | |
| 6 | Deportivo Cali | 44 | 16 | 13 | 15 | 67 | 64 | +3 | 61 | |
| 7 | Atlético Nacional | 44 | 17 | 9 | 18 | 66 | 63 | +3 | 60 | |
| 8 | Once Caldas | 44 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 53 | 50 | +3 | 60 | |
| 9 | Envigado | 44 | 15 | 13 | 16 | 61 | 63 | −2 | 58 | |
| 10 | Atlético Huila | 44 | 14 | 11 | 19 | 50 | 66 | −16 | 53 | |
| 11 | Independiente Medellín | 44 | 13 | 14 | 17 | 56 | 64 | −8 | 53 | |
| 12 | Real Cartagena | 44 | 13 | 12 | 19 | 44 | 51 | −7 | 51 | |
| 13 | Cortuluá | 44 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 55 | 70 | −15 | 51 | |
| 14 | Deportivo Pasto | 44 | 13 | 11 | 20 | 56 | 72 | −16 | 50 | |
| 15 | Atlético Bucaramanga | 44 | 12 | 12 | 20 | 39 | 58 | −19 | 48 | |
| 16 | Deportes Quindío (R) | 44 | 11 | 12 | 21 | 50 | 76 | −26 | 45 | Relegation to Categoría Primera B |

## Final stage

In the third stage of the tournament, the four qualified teams played each other under a double round-robin system with the team with the most points at the end of this stage being declared as the champion.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | AME | JUN | TOL | SFE |
| 1 | América de Cali (C) | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 10 | | — | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 |
| 2 | Junior | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 9 | Qualification for the Copa Libertadores | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | 4–3 |
| 3 | Deportes Tolima | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 7 | | 1–0 | 0–0 | — | 3–1 |
| 4 | Santa Fe | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 12 | −3 | 7 | | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | — |
* 2000 Categoría Primera A champions
* América de Cali 10th title

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Name | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Carlos Castro | Millonarios | 24 |
| 2 | Julián Vásquez | Envigado | 23 |
| 3 | Sergio Galván Rey | Once Caldas | 20 |
| 3 | Iván René Valenciano | Independiente Medellín / Atlético Bucaramanga | 20 |
| 5 | Néstor Salazar | América de Cali | 19 |
| 6 | Marcos Cardoso | Junior | 17 |
| 7 | Orlando Ballesteros | Junior | 16 |
| 8 | Hugo Arrieta | Deportes Tolima | 16 |
| 9 | Léider Preciado | Santa Fe | 15 |
| 9 | Ricardo Ciciliano | Deportivo Pasto / Deportes Quindío | 15 |
Source: RSSSF