# 2002 Torneo Descentralizado

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.

## 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 from 2001 Copa Perú | Relegated from 2001 Primera División |
| Coronel Bolognesi (1st) | Unión Minas (12th) |

### Stadia locations

| Team | City | Stadium | Capacity | Field |
| Alianza Atlético | Sullana | Campeones del 36 | 8,000 | Grass |
| Alianza Lima | Lima | Alejandro Villanueva | 35,000 | Grass |
| Cienciano | Cuzco | Garcilaso | 42,056 | Grass |
| Coopsol Trujillo | Trujillo | Mansiche | 24,000 | Artificial |
| Coronel Bolognesi | Tacna | Jorge Basadre | 19,850 | Grass |
| Deportivo Wanka | Huancayo | Huancayo | 20,000 | Grass |
| Estudiantes de Medicina | Ica | José Picasso Peratta | 8,000 | Grass |
| Juan Aurich | Chiclayo | Elías Aguirre | 24,500 | Grass |
| Melgar | Arequipa | Mariano Melgar | 20,000 | Grass |
| Sport Boys | Callao | Miguel Grau | 15,000 | Grass |
| Sporting Cristal | Lima | San Martín de Porres | 18,000 | Grass |
| Universitario | Lima | Monumental | 80,093 | Grass |

## Torneo Apertura
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Universitario (O) | 22 | 15 | 2 | 5 | 30 | 17 | +13 | 47 | Copa Libertadores 2003 First stage |
| 2 | Alianza Lima | 22 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 43 | 23 | +20 | 47 | Qualification for 2002 Copa Sudamericana |
| 3 | Sporting Cristal | 22 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 43 | 32 | +11 | 38 | |
| 4 | Cienciano | 22 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 33 | 31 | +2 | 34 | |
| 5 | Alianza Atlético | 22 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 37 | 26 | +11 | 33 | |
| 6 | Juan Aurich | 22 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 29 | 25 | +4 | 28 | |
| 7 | Melgar | 22 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 36 | 43 | −7 | 27 | |
| 8 | Sport Boys | 22 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 29 | 37 | −8 | 25 | |
| 9 | Coopsol Trujillo | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 28 | 32 | −4 | 24 | |
| 10 | Coronel Bolognesi | 22 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 27 | 39 | −12 | 23 | |
| 11 | Estudiantes de Medicina | 22 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 25 | 28 | −3 | 19 | |
| 12 | Deportivo Wanka | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 23 | 40 | −17 | 19 | |

### Results

| Home \ Away | AAS | ALI | CIE | BOL | WAN | EST | MEL | JA | SBA | COO | CRI | UNI |
| Alianza Atlético | | 1–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 4–1 | 3–3 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Alianza Lima | 0–1 | | 5–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 5–1 | 1–0 |
| Cienciano | 1–0 | 2–1 | | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Coronel Bolognesi | 3–2 | 0–0 | 3–2 | | 3–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 0–0 |
| Deportivo Wanka | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 0–1 | | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| Estudiantes de Medicina | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Melgar | 1–1 | 2–3 | 3–3 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | | 0–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 4–4 | 1–0 |
| Juan Aurich | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 | | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 |
| Sport Boys | 0–2 | 2–3 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 4–4 | 1–0 | | 1–3 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Coopsol Trujillo | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 6–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 0–3 | 0–3 |
| Sporting Cristal | 4–3 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | | 0–1 |
| Universitario | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–4 | |

### Apertura playoff
## Torneo Clausura

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Sporting Cristal | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 46 | 18 | +28 | 46 | Copa Libertadores 2003 First stage |
| 2 | Alianza Lima | 22 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 40 | 18 | +22 | 42 | |
| 3 | Alianza Atlético | 22 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 40 | 18 | +22 | 36 | |
| 4 | Cienciano | 22 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 50 | 44 | +6 | 36 | |
| 5 | Estudiantes de Medicina | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 36 | 29 | +7 | 32 | |
| 6 | Sport Boys | 22 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 28 | 24 | +4 | 29 | |
| 7 | Deportivo Wanka | 22 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 30 | 35 | −5 | 29 | |
| 8 | Coronel Bolognesi | 22 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 24 | 29 | −5 | 28 | |
| 9 | Melgar | 22 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 25 | 33 | −8 | 25 | |
| 10 | Juan Aurich | 22 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 20 | 35 | −15 | 20 | |
| 11 | Universitario | 22 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 27 | 36 | −9 | 19 | |
| 12 | Coopsol Trujillo | 22 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 18 | 51 | −33 | 13 | |
* 1 2 Alianza Lima and Alianza Atlético were docked 3 points for evading anti-doping tests in Torneo Apertura's Round 22.

### Results

| Home \ Away | AAS | ALI | CIE | BOL | WAN | EST | MEL | JA | SBA | COO | CRI | UNI |
| Alianza Atlético | | 2–2 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 2–1 |
| Alianza Lima | 2–2 | | 4–2 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 3–2 |
| Cienciano | 4–1 | 2–1 | | 2–1 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 5–2 |
| Coronel Bolognesi | 3–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 2–1 |
| Deportivo Wanka | 1–1 | 3–1 | 3–3 | 1–0 | | 4–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 1–3 |
| Estudiantes de Medicina | 2–0 | 0–2 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 3–0 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 9–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Melgar | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 |
| Juan Aurich | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 3–1 | | 0–0 | 3–1 | 5–2 | 1–2 |
| Sport Boys | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 4–0 | | 2–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 |
| Coopsol Trujillo | 2–4 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 0–3 | 1–1 |
| Sporting Cristal | 2–0 | 0–2 | 5–0 | 5–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | | 1–1 |
| Universitario | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | |

## 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

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Alianza Lima | 44 | 27 | 11 | 6 | 83 | 41 | +42 | 89 | 2003 Copa Libertadores First stage |
| 2 | Sporting Cristal | 44 | 24 | 12 | 8 | 89 | 18 | +71 | 84 | 2003 Copa Libertadores First stage |
| 3 | Cienciano | 44 | 20 | 10 | 14 | 83 | 75 | +8 | 70 | 2003 Copa Sudamericana Preliminary Phase |
| 4 | Alianza Atlético | 44 | 21 | 9 | 14 | 71 | 52 | +19 | 69 | |
| 5 | Universitario | 44 | 19 | 9 | 16 | 57 | 53 | +4 | 66 | 2003 Copa Libertadores First stage |
| 6 | Sport Boys | 44 | 14 | 12 | 18 | 57 | 61 | −4 | 54 | |
| 7 | Melgar | 44 | 12 | 16 | 16 | 61 | 67 | −6 | 52 | |
| 8 | Estudiantes de Medicina | 44 | 13 | 12 | 19 | 61 | 67 | −6 | 51 | |
| 9 | Coronel Bolognesi | 44 | 14 | 9 | 21 | 51 | 68 | −17 | 51 | |
| 10 | Juan Aurich (A) | 44 | 12 | 12 | 20 | 49 | 60 | −11 | 48 | Relegation to 2003 Copa Perú |
| 11 | Deportivo Wanka (A, O) | 44 | 12 | 12 | 20 | 53 | 75 | −22 | 48 | |
| 12 | Coopsol Trujillo | 44 | 9 | 10 | 25 | 46 | 83 | −37 | 37 | Relegation to 2003 Copa Perú |
* 1 2 Alianza Lima and Alianza Atlético were docked 3 points for evading anti-doping tests in Torneo Apertura's Round 22.

### Relegation play-off
## Top scorers

| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Luis Artime | Melgar | 24 |
| 2 | Sergio Ibarra | Alianza Atlético | 22 |
| 3 | Germán Carty | Cienciano | 18 |
| 3 | Antonio Serrano | Sport Boys | 18 |
| 5 | Ernesto Zapata | Cienciano | 15 |