Asunción, Paraguay has been elected to host the 2031 Pan American Games at an Extraordinary General Assembly of the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO) held in Santiago, Chile Friday. A joint bid from Brazil by Rio-Niterói was defeated in the secret ballot.
The vote was close with 28 going to Asunción and 24 for Rio-Niterói.
A total of 41 member nations were eligible to vote with 12 countries having previously hosted the Games given an additional ballot – resulting in a total of 52 possible votes (delegate from Dominica was absent). Former hosts include United States, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Chile, Brazil, and Argentina.
Both candidates, starting with randomly selected Brazil, were allotted 40 minutes of presentation time followed by 20 minutes for member Q&A. The Evaluation Commission, having visited Paraguay and Brazil earlier this month, then presented its report to the voting members.
Paraguay’s bid was inspired by the capital’s successful hosting of the Junior Pan Am Games in August where more than 4,000 young athletes representing 41 countries competed in 28 sports and 42 disciplines. Several venues are already in place to stage the Games however plans are in place to build a new athletics stadium and arena to expand capabilities. Transportation improvements are also proposed, including increased airport capacity.
Paraguay is also preparing to host a FIFA World Cup match in 2030.
Brazil was vying to host the Games for a third time following São Paulo in 1963 and Rio in 2007.
Rio hoped to leverage venues left as a legacy of the 2016 Olympics held across the city with the only new major construction required being the Pan American Athletes Village. Rio’s 2016 Olympics were marred by construction delays and cost overruns, and a subway line extension that had its opening delayed and was not available to the general public during the Games.
Both projects met an application deadline last May and were the only two in the running to host the important quadrennial continental Games that stage many Olympic qualification events.
The 2027 Panam Games will be held in Lima, Peru.
More as this story develops…
