CONMEBOL - History

History

In 1916, the first edition of the Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol, now known as the Copa América, was contested in Argentina to commemorate the centenary of the Argentine Declaration of Independence. The four participating associations of that tournament gathered together in order to officially create a governing body to facilitate the organization of the tournament. Thus, CONMEBOL was founded on July 9, 1916, Argentine Independence Day, under the initiative of Uruguayan Héctor Rivadavia, but approved by the football associations of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay. The constitutional congress on December 15 of that same year ratified the decision.

Over the years, the other football associations in South America joined, with the last being Venezuela in 1952. Guyana, Suriname, and the French overseas department of French Guiana, while geographically in South America, are not part of CONMEBOL. Consisting of a French territory, a former British territory, and a former Dutch territory, and located near the Caribbean Sea, they are part of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), mainly due to historical, cultural, and sporting reasons. With ten member nations, CONMEBOL is the smallest and the only fully continental land-based FIFA confederation (no insular countries or associates from different continents).