| Competition: | Copa Credife Serie A |
| Season: | 2012 |
| Winners: | Barcelona (14th title) |
| Relegated: | Olmedo Técnico Universitario |
| Continentalcup1: | 2013 Copa Libertadores |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Barcelona Emelec LDU Quito |
| Continentalcup2: | 2012 Copa Sudamericana |
| Continentalcup2 Qualifiers: | Barcelona LDU Loja Emelec |
| Continentalcup3: | 2013 Copa Sudamericana |
| Continentalcup3 Qualifiers: | Barcelona Emelec LDU Loja Independiente José Terán |
| League Topscorer: | Narciso Mina (30 goals) |
| Biggest Home Win: | LDU Loja 6–0 Técnico Universitario (September 13) |
| Biggest Away Win: | Deportivo Quito 0–4 Macará (December 2) |
| Highest Scoring: | Olmedo 4–4 Deportivo Quito (April 25) |
| Matches: | 268 |
| Total Goals: | 626 |
| Longest Wins: | Barcelona — 5 matches (May 6–June 13) |
| Longest Unbeaten: | LDU Quito — 9 matches (March 28–May 18) LDU Loja — 9 matches (November 3–December 15) |
| Longest Winless: | Olmedo — 12 matches (September 19–December 2) |
| Longest Losses: | Olmedo — 6 matches (April 29–June 13) |
| Prevseason: | 2011 |
| Nextseason: | 2013 |
The 2012 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol de la Serie A (known as the 2012 Copa Credife Serie A for sponsorship reasons) was the 54th season of the Serie A, Ecuador's premier football league. The season began on February 3 and ended in December 2012. Deportivo Quito was the defending champion. They were succeeded by Barcelona, who won their record-breaking 14th title.
On the night of December 6, 2011, the Ecuadorian Football Federation determined that the format for 2012 will the same as the previous season.[1]
Twelve teams competed in the 2012 Serie A season, ten of whom remained from the previous season. ESPOLI and Imbabura were relegated last season after accumulating the fewest points in the 2011 season aggregate table. They will be replaced by Técnico Universitario[2] and Macará,[3] the 2011 Serie B winner and runner-up, respectively. Both teams from Ambato are making returns to the Serie A. Macará is returning after one season while Técnico Universitario is returning after two.
| Team | Home city | Home ground | Manager | Captain |
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| LDU Quito | | |||
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| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-season changes | ||||||
| Técnico Universitario | Paúl Vélez | Sacked[4] | November 28, 2011[5] | Fabián Bustos | November 28, 2011[6] | N/A |
| LDU Loja | Diego Ochoa[7] | Replaced | December 4, 2011 | Paúl Vélez | December 4, 2011[8] | N/A |
| Olmedo | Dragan Miranovic | Mutual consent | December 6, 2011 | Carlos Calderón | December 6, 2011[9] | N/A |
| First Stage changes | ||||||
| Olmedo | Carlos Calderón | Resigned | February 12, 2012[10] | Juan Amador Sánchez | February 13, 2012 | 12th |
| Barcelona | Luis Zubeldía | Resigned | April 9, 2012[11] | Gustavo Costas | April 11, 2012 | 4th |
| El Nacional | Mario Saralegui | Mutual consent | April 9, 2012[12] | Sixto Vizuete | April 10, 2012[13] | 8th |
| Técnico Universitario | Fabián Bustos | Mutual consent | April 13, 2012[14] | Mario Saralegui | April 14, 2012[15] | 11th |
| Olmedo | Juan Amador Sánchez | Mutual consent | April 30, 2012 | Óscar Pacheco | June 8, 2012 | 12th |
| Deportivo Quito | Carlos Ischia | Sacked | May 14, 2012[16] | Nelson Acosta | May 24, 2012 | 7th |
| Técnico Universitario | Mario Saralegui | Resigned | June 18, 2012 | José Basualdo | June 26, 2012[17] | 11th |
| Inter-stage changes | ||||||
| Emelec | Marcelo Fleitas | Resigned | July 8, 2012 | Gustavo Quinteros | July 6, 2012 | N/A |
| Macará | Homero Valencia | Mutual consent | July 8, 2012 | Fabián Bustos | July 9, 2012 | N/A |
| Second Stage changes | ||||||
| Deportivo Quito | Nelson Acosta | Resigned | July 30, 2012 | Rubén Darío Insúa | July 31, 2012 | 12th |
| Independiente José Terán | Carlos Sevilla | Resigned | September 20, 2012 | Pablo Repetto | September 24, 2012[18] | 11th |
| Olmedo | Óscar Pacheco | Resigned | October 1, 2012 | Roque Alfaro | October 8, 2012 | 6th |
| Deportivo Cuenca | Luis Soler | Mutual consent | October 4, 2012 | Guillermo Duró | October 26, 2012 | 9th |
| El Nacional | Sixto Vizuete | Sacked | November 8, 2012 | Orlando Narváez | November 9, 2012 | 11th |
The first stage (Spanish; Castilian: Primera Etapa) began on February 3 and ended on July 8.
The second stage (Spanish; Castilian: Segunda Etapa) began on July 13 and ended on December 2.
The Third Stage (Spanish; Castilian: '''Tercera Etapa''') began on December 9 and ended on December 16. It consisted of two playoffs.
Independiente José Terán and LDU Loja played in the fourth-place playoff. By having the greater number of points in the aggregate table, Independiente José Terán will play the second leg at home.
Having won both matches, Independiente José Terán earned the Ecuador 3 berth in the 2013 Copa Sudamericana; LDU Loja earned the Ecuador 4 berth.
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Emelec and LDU Quito played the second-place playoff. By having the greater number of points in the aggregate table, Emelec will play the second leg at home.
Having won both matches, Emelec won the Ecuador 2 berth for the 2013 Copa Libertadores and the 2013 Copa Sudamericana. LDU Quito earned the Ecuador 3 berth for the 2013 Copa Libertadores.
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Since Barcelona won both the first stage and second stage, the finals were not played, and Barcelona were crowned champions. They earned the Ecuador 1 berth in the 2013 Copa Libertadores and the Ecuador 1 berth in the 2013 Copa Sudamericana.
| Rank | Player | Nationality | Club | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=center rowspan=1 | 1 | Narciso Mina | Ecuador | Barcelona | 30 |
| align=center rowspan=1 | 2 | Claudio Bieler | Ecuador | LDU Quito | 20 |
| align=center rowspan=1 | 3 | Fábio Renato |  Brazil | LDU Loja | 16 |
| align=center rowspan=3 | 4 | Marlon de Jesús | Ecuador | Emelec | 13 |
| Carlos Luis Quintero | Ecuador | Macará | 13 | ||
| Enner Valencia | Ecuador | Emelec | 13 | ||
| align=center rowspan=2 | 7 | Ariel Nahuelpan |  Argentina | LDU Quito | 11 |
| Daniel Samaniego | Ecuador | Independiente José Terán | 11 | ||
| align=center rowspan=4 | 9 | Byron Cano | Ecuador | Deportivo Cuenca | 10 |
| Alex Colón | Ecuador | Técnico Universitario | 10 | ||
| Luciano Figueroa | Argentina | Emelec | 10 | ||
| Marcos Mondaini | Argentina | Emelec | 10 | ||
| Player | For ! | Against | Result | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claudio Bieler | LDU Quito | Olmedo | 5–0 | February 12, 2012 | |
| Alex Colón | Técnico Universitario | Olmedo | 0–3 | February 24, 2012 | |
| Luis Caicedo | Barcelona | Olmedo | 4–0 | March 23, 2012 | |
| Claudio Bieler | LDU Quito | El Nacional | 3–2 | March 31, 2012 | |
| Fábio Renato | LDU Loja | El Nacional | 1–3 | July 1, 2012 | |
| Marcos Mondaini | Emelec | Olmedo | 5–0 | July 8, 2012 | |
| Narciso Mina4 | Barcelona | Macará | 4–0 | July 21, 2012 | |
| Christian Márquez | Manta | Técnico Universitario | 4–0 | November 18, 2012 | |
| Carlos Luis Quintero | Macará | Deportivo Quito | 0–4 | December 2, 2012 |