Wari Tournament
 | |
| Organising body | Special Ministry of Sports |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1920 |
| Country | Kayahallpa |
| Number of teams | 20 |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| Relegation to | Kaya Tournament |
| Domestic cup(s) | Qhapaq Atipanakuy |
| International cup(s) | K'anol Halaab |
| Current champions | Makru PC (8th title) (2022-23) |
| Most championships | Qhapaq Pikchu PC (28 titles) |
| Most appearances | Tupaq Churan City PC (93 seasons) |
| TV partners | Wari Sports Network, Kaya24 (Kayahallpa), Others |
| Website | pitsi1.ky |
The Wari Tournament (Kaya Simi: Wari Atipanakuy, also known domestically as Wari Pitsi or Pitsi 1) is the highest tier of professional men's Pitz in Kayahallpa. Originating from the Kayamuchan Pitz Circuit in 1893, the growing adoption of the international Pitzalk’in ruleset prompted a series of mergers, eventually resulting in the Wari Tournament's first season in 1920 and the birth of true national competitions in Kayan Pitz. Organized by the Special Ministry of Sports (a government body controlled by the country's White Pilgrim priesthood from Qusqu) since 1965, the league has a history of politically and financially motivated reorganizations and adopted its current 20-team format in 1970. As an open league, the Wari Tournament operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the second-tier Kaya Tournament.
The Wari Tournament traces its founding to the first national Kayahallpan Pitz competitions held in the 1890s at a time when the game was still transitioning from one of many traditional community ceremonies to a standardized sport with modern institutions. The newly-founded Kayamuchan Pitz Circuit first awarded the Antis Trophy in 1893 with a field of eight fully-amateur clubs; several decades of continuous change and development in the game's organization eventually led to the Wari Tournament's foundation in 1920 which coincided with the full adoption of professionalism. The next decades would prove to be unstable as disputes over funding and politically-motivated interference in the league's organization often interrupted its operations. Still, the league continued to grow in terms of attendance, the number of clubs, and profit. The Wari Tournament has become the dominant professional sports league in Kayahallpa since the 1960s, with its best teams regularly competing in international club competitions and fielding some of the highest-ranked players in the world.
The league is organized as a Round-robin tournament where each team plays every other team twice, once at home and once away, for a total of 38 games each in one season. The two teams with the worst record are relegated directly to the Kaya Tournament. The series champion is determined by their record in the Wari Tournament alone. The season begins in August, the exact date varying slightly each year according to the local calendar, and ends in May. Training and friendly matches are held before the season and often played at neutral venues, sometimes in foreign countries. Average attendance was 27,282 for the 2021-2022 season, while games are broadcast on open networks in Kayahallpa and various channels in many other countries around the world. The teams most known internationally include Tupaq Churan City, Makru PC, Tupawasi, Huirquihui, and Tuñirquy PC.
Eighty-three different clubs have competed in the Wari Tournament as of the 2022-2023 season, of which nineteen have won the title at least once. Qhapaq Pikchu has the greatest number of championships at 28, with all but five of them won before 1956. Tupaq Churan City has the longest tenure in the league's history as they have avoided relegation every year since 1952.