The XII Central American Games had remained standing despite the conflict with the Olympics in El Salvador and the health crisis of the coronavirus in the region, but they succumbed to the internal struggle for control of the Guatemalan Olympic Committee.
Unexpectedly, after the new waiting period opened by the International Olympic Committee on September 8, the executive committee of the Central American Sports Organization (Ordeca) has announced the suspension of the games that were to be held jointly by Guatemala and Costa Rica.
Initially, the games would start in Guatemala and would last from October 27 to November 5. Later they would move to Costa Rica from November 7 to 14, where 13 sports were going to be played. The last edition was held in Managua, Nicaragua, in December 2017.
More than 4,000 athletes expected to be protagonists in what would be the first stage of the Olympic cycle for the seven nations of Central America, now victims of the effects of the struggle for power in an 11-month legal battle that reached a crisis when the Constitutional Court of Guatemala ratified the provisional suspension of the statutes of the National Olympic Committee.
After Ordeca’s unfortunate announcement, the reactions of several athletes was immediate. The outstanding Guatemalan sailor Juan Ignacio Maegli, who has participated in five Olympic Games, and who was preparing for a sixth incursion in Paris, showed his regret on his social networks.
Maegli expressed that he still has goals to meet, but a fight of political interests could collapse all his expectations.
Maegli, among the best sailors in America, stated that, in a country so divided, he cannot lose the unity that sport has given them and raised his voice to ask the relevant authorities to find a solution to avoid a permanent suspension by the IOC.
The official statement on the suspension of the Games states that Ordeca:
– Adheres to and expresses its full support for the content of the letter sent by the International Olympic Committee dated July 1, 2022, which reiterates that the National Olympic Committees must be free from interference in their internal governance and operations in accordance with the principle of autonomy of the Olympic Movement established in the Olympic Charter.
– That in view of the governance situation that affects the normal operation of the National Olympic Committee of Guatemala in accordance with the Olympic Charter and given the administrative and financial insecurity that such a situation entails, it is decided to cancel the XII edition of the Central American Sports Games that they would jointly organize Guatemala and Costa Rica.
– In order to offer Central American athletes the opportunity to compete in the Central American Games, in accordance with the ORDECA Statutes, applications will be opened from the host cities in 2023 and thus have a broad period of organization to the next edition of the Central American Games scheduled to be held in 2025.
These Games were initially going to be held in Santa Tecla, El Salvador, but the government of President Nayib Bukele resigned from its organization after insurmountable contradictions with the president of the COES, Eduardo Palomo. In a last attempt to save the Games, Ordeca accepted in February 2022 the willingness of Guatemala and Costa Rica to organize them.
On September 8, the IOC Executive Commission confirmed in Lausanne what Around The Rings had anticipated in the midst of its permanent monitoring of this case and decided to suspend the NOC of Guatemala that will take effect from October 15, 2022.
The NOC’s suspension will come into effect automatically on this date if no solution is found with the relevant authorities to lift the provisional suspension of a number of provisions of the NOC Statutes and Regulations and to take the appropriate measures in sports legislation to ensure that that the NOC may freely carry out its elections in accordance with its own Statutes and the Olympic Charter.
The IOC hopes that the NOC of Guatemala and the relevant national authorities will meet shortly and propose a constructive solution, which will be presented to the Executive Commission no later than September 25, 2022.
If an acceptable solution is found before October 15, 2022, a report will be made to the IOC Executive Board with a view to lifting this decision. Otherwise, as of that date, an indefinite suspension will begin and Guatemalan athletes will not be able to compete in any international event on behalf of the country and would do so without an anthem or flag or national uniforms.
In addition, the GOC will no longer receive funding from the Olympic Movement until the suspension is lifted. A source from the Guatemalan sports movement told Around The Rings that “he saw no signs” from the Constitutional Court “to revoke” his decision “at least until this minute.”
The first massive test of the Olympic cycle for athletes from Central America will now be the Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador starting in June 2023.
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