CONMEBOL

                                           

South American Football Confederation

Abbreviation	CONMEBOL
Formation	9 July 1916; 99 years ago
Type	Federation of national associations
Headquarters	Luque, Paraguay
Coordinates	25°15′38″S 57°30′58″W
Region served	South America
Membership	10 member associations
Official language	Spanish, Portuguese
Secretary General	Jose Luis Meiszner
President	Juan Ángel Napout
Website	www.CONMEBOL.com

FIFA confederations
AFC
CAF
CONCACAF
CONMEBOL
OFC
UEFA

The SouthAmericanFootballConfederation  (CONMEBOL, /ˈkɒnmɨbɒl/; Spanish: Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol;Portuguese: Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol) is the continental governing body of association football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations. The oldest continental confederation in the world, its headquarters are located in Luque, Paraguay. CONMEBOL is responsible for the organization and governance of South American football's major international tournaments. With 10 member football associations, it has the fewest members of all the confederations in FIFA.CONMEBOL national teams have won nine FIFA World Cups (Brazil five, Uruguay two and Argentina two), and CONMEBOL clubs have won 22 Intercontinental Cups and four FIFA Club World Cups. Argentina and Uruguay have also won two Olympic gold medals each. It is considered one of the strongest confederations in the world.The World Cup qualifiers of CONMEBOL have been described as the "toughest qualifiers in the world", for their simple round-robin system, entry of some of the top national teams in the world, leveling of the weaker national teams, climate conditions,geographic conditions, strong home stands and passionate supporters. Currently, the Confederation is planning to create the first women's qualification to the FIFA Women's World Cup to replace the Copa América Femenina.Juan Ángel Napout was the interim president of CONMEBOL until March, 2015 but then he was promoted to full-time president. Napout replaced the former president Eugenio Figueredo who resigned on August 8, 2014. The first and second vicepresidents are Luis Bedoya and Sergio Jadue.

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 theArgentine 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 ofFrench 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).

CONMEBOL presidents

                                                          Headquarters of CONMEBOL in Luque, Paragua

                                              

• 1916–1936  Héctor Rivadavia Gómez

• 1936–1939  Luis O. Salesi

• 1939–1955  Luis Valenzuela Hermosilla

• 1955–1957  Carlos Dittborn Pinto

• 1957–1959  José Ramos de Freitas

• 1959–1961  Fermín Sorhueta

• 1961–1966  Raúl H. Colombo

• 1966–1986  Teófilo Salinas Fuller

• 1986–2013  Nicolás Léoz

• 2013–2014  Eugenio Figueredo

• 2014–  Juan Ángel Napout

Members

Further information: Category:National Members of the South American Football Confederation

Country	Association	Founded	Joined	National team	Top division
Argentina	AFA	1893	1916	ARG (M, W)	Primera División
Bolivia	FBF	1925	1926	BOL (M, W)	Liga Profesional
Brazil	CBF	1914	1916	BRA (M, W)	Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
Chile	FFC	1895	1916	CHI (M, W)	Primera División
Colombia	FCF	1924	1936	COL (M, W)	Primera A
Ecuador	FEF	1925	1927	ECU (M, W)	Serie A
Paraguay	APF	1906	1921	PAR (M, W)	División Profesional
Peru	FPF	1922	1925	PER (M, W)	Primera División
Uruguay	AUF	1899	1916	URU (M, W)	Primera División
Venezuela	FVF	1926	1952	VEN (M, W)	Primera División

Membership proposal

Country	Association	Founded	Joined	National team	Top division
New Zealand	NZF	1891	—	NZL (M, W)	New Zealand Championship