Tomás Yelmini
In South America, the passion for sports is very strong. Those who practice it feel it, but so do the fans, who fill the stands and sing non-stop to cheer on their favorite team or protagonist. To learn a little more, today at JefeBet we share with you the most popular sports in Peru, those that have millions of fans attentive to what is happening. Let’s see what they are!
What Are the Most Popular Sports in Peru?
Soccer
Peru is part of a region that has produced some of the best players in the history of the sport. Soccer in Peru is super strong and is governed by the Peruvian Soccer Federation (FPF), which is in charge of organizing men’s professional and women’s semi-professional championships.
Meanwhile, clubs such as Universitario, Alianza Lima and Sporting Cristal are the most popular, with hundreds of thousands of members and millions of fans in that country. They compete in Liga 1, as the First Division of Peruvian soccer is known.
Basketball
The situation of professional basketball in Peru is not easy because the Peruvian Basketball Federation (FPDB) is not recognized by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).
This prevents it from having a professional league, but it does not mean that there are no basketball fans in Peru, who follow everything that happens in the NBA and other leagues around the world on TV.
Volleyball
It is a very popular sport in Peru, and also very often practised. At the world level, the women stand out above all, with historic performances in the Olympic and Pan American Games.
The last great victory was the gold medal in women’s volleyball at the Odesur 2022 Games, held in Asunción, beating Argentina 3-2 in the final.
Cycling
Peru’s hills and mountains attract tourists from all over the world every year and also encourage the practice of mountain biking. This sport is governed by the Peruvian National Cycling Sports Federation (FDPC), which organizes competitions in disciplines such as BMX, MTB, Track, Road and even E-Cycling.
Tennis
One of the sports with more followers around the world could not be absent in Peru, where tennis competitions are organized by the Peruvian Tennis Federation.
Currently, the Terrazas de Miraflores Club hosts one of the tournaments that are part of the ATP Challenger Tour, the Lima Challenger. The best Peruvian tennis player today is Juan Pablo Varillas, who in 2022 was ranked No. 97 in the ATP ranking, which meant the return of a Peruvian tennis player to the ATP Top 100 after 13 years.
One more thing:
Now you know what are the most popular sports in Peru. But don’t think that’s the end of the story: of course, we could go on listing others, such as surfing (thanks to Peru’s beautiful Pacific beaches), swimming or golf. But everything must come to an end at some point!
