2023 Venezuelan Primera División season

The 2023 Primera División season, officially Liga de Fútbol Profesional Venezolano or Liga FUTVE, was the 67th season of the Venezuelan Primera División, the top-flight football league in Venezuela, and the 42nd season since the start of the professional era. The season began on 3 February and ended on 25 November 2023.

Deportivo Táchira won their tenth title at the end of the season, defeating Caracas on penalty kicks following a 1–1 draw after extra time in the final. Metropolitanos were the defending champions.

Format
The competition format for this season was announced by the Liga FUTVE on 31 January 2023. Similar to the previous season, the 15 participating clubs took part in a double round-robin first stage in which they played each other twice (once at home and once away) for a total of 28 games. The top four clubs, which qualified for the 2024 Copa Libertadores, also advanced to a final stage where they played each other twice with the top two teams playing a single-match final to decide the league champions. However, and unlike the previous season, no final stage to decide the teams qualified for the 2024 Copa Sudamericana was played, with the four berths to that competition instead being awarded to the teams placing 5th to 8th in the first stage. The team placing last in the first stage was relegated to Segunda División for the following season.

Teams
16 teams were expected to compete in the 2023 season, subject to the fulfillment of club licensing requirements: the top 15 teams in the first stage of the 2022 season as well as the 2022 Segunda División champions Angostura, who defeated Academia Anzoátegui in the Segunda División final on 16 October 2022. They replaced Aragua, who were relegated to Segunda División at the end of the previous season after finishing in bottom place.

On 12 December 2022, it was announced that Zulia and Segunda División side Rayo Zuliano would merge, with the latter taking the former's place in the league. The merger was officially confirmed on 28 January 2023, with which Rayo Zuliano competed in the top flight for the first time ever in this season. Furthermore, two days later it was confirmed that Deportivo Lara would not take part in the season, ultimately bringing the number of participating teams down to 15.

Managerial changes

 * Notes

First stage
The first stage started on 3 February and ended on 8 October 2023.

Final stage
The top four teams in the first stage contested the competition's final stage, playing each other twice. The top two teams advanced to the final and also qualified for the group stage of the 2024 Copa Libertadores, whilst the third- and fourth-placed teams qualified for the preliminary stages of the same competition.

Final
The final match was hosted by the finalist with the best performance in the first stage of the season.

Top goalscorers
Source: Soccerway