Central American and Caribbean Games Decision in December

(ATR) The host city for the XXIV Central American and Caribbean Games scheduled for 2022 will be announced before the end of 2020.

The president of Centro Caribe Sports (formerly CACSO/ODECABE), Dominican Luis Mejía Oviedo, tellsAround the Rings that on December 5 the Executive Committee must receive the report with the evaluations of the two candidate cities of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico and San Salvador, El Salvador.

The report, which is expected to be "final", will be from the Future Venues Commission, temporarily headed by the Mexican Jimena Saldaña, first vice president of CCS.

This Commission is now evaluating the proposals of both applicants as well as deciding whether to travel to those cities for the traditional inspection visits given the Covid-19 pandemic..

The emerging situation of going out in search of new host came after Panama suddenly pulled out in July due to the health crisis.

Mejía Oviedo clarified that according to the statutes, the CCS Executive Committee will be in charge of defining the winning venue among the candidates.

This same formula was applied in 2014 after Quetzaltenango, Guatemala resigned to continue with the preparations for the XXIII regional Games and the Executive Committee decided in favor of Barranquilla over Panama City and Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela at the end of the bid process.

Mejía Oviedo, who is a member of the IOC, did not specify when the winner will be announced, although he confirmed that "it will be known before the end of the year".

The guarantee of government support is an essential element for any candidacy.

According to the Puerto Rican press, the first meeting between representatives of the Fiscal Oversight Board (JSF) and the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee (Copur) to discuss Mayaguez's request will be held this Wednesday.

According to El Nuevo Día these talks are due to the fact that any government disbursement that is greater than $10 million will need their endorsement. Experts have estimated that around $70 million of government investment would be needed, while they estimate that the return on investment would be $223 million.

Governor-elect Pedro Pierluisi expressed his support for Mayaguez's candidacy last Thursday, although he acknowledged "the complicated fiscal situation" facing the country.

According to the local press, Pierlusi said that the available financing channels should first be explored to put the sports facilities in the west of the country in optimal conditions.

For his part, the president of the El Salvador Olympic Committee (COES), Eduardo Palomo Pacas, declared to ATR his confidence that the proposal of the Central American capital will win the vote of CCS because "we have many advantages" and "the total support" of the central government.

"Our proposal is solid and safe," said the head of COES.

The president of the National Institute of Sports of El Salvador (Indes), Yamil Bukele, brother of the President of the Republic, Nayib Bukele, has said the Games will serve to reposition El Salvador in the international context.

ATR learned that the tentative date to hold the event in San Salvador would be March 2023.

El Salvador must organize the Central American Games of Santa Tecla in November 2022. Another Salvadoran city, Santa Ana, had applied for the I Junior Pan American Games in 2021 whose venue was won by Cali, Colombia, in March 2019.

El Salvador organized the Central American and Caribbean Games of 1935 and 2002 in San Salvador while Puerto Rico has held them in San Juan (1966), Ponce (1993) and Mayaguez (2010).

Cuba, the main medal winner in this region, was the great absentee from the San Salvador (2002) and Mayaguez (2010) Games for political reasons.

Written and reported by Miguel Hernandez

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