April 27 – The 2019 Copa America in Brazil will be expanded to 16 teams. South American regional governing body CONMEBOL approved the increased number of countries for their regional championship at their annual congress in Santiago, Chile.
The move seems bound to split opinion over the tournament’s sporting integrity as well as raising questions about the overloading the international calendar.
The field for what is widely regarded as the third most prestigious competition after the World Cup and European Championship has traditionally been 12 teams – CONMEBOL’s 10 members plus two invited teams from CONCACAF.
That was expanded to 16 last year for the landmark centenary edition that was held in the United States and included five CONCACAF nations. But now it would appear that 16 teams is here to stay.
“The board has agreed that it will take place in Brazil and the ideal number of teams will be 16,” said CONMEBOL chief Alejandro Dominguez.
Local reports suggested while the bulk of the six guest sides are more than likely to come from CONCACAF, they could include Latin European nations such as Spain, France, Italy and Portugal though this has not yet been confirmed.
Brazilian channel Globoesporte suggested that Asia could even provide a participant as CONMEBOL aims to take advantage of the globalisation of football. Asia has been represented once before with Japan competing in 1999.
The advantage of expansion to 16 teams in 2016 for CONMEBOL was a significant boost in commercial revenue. Sticking to that format but inviting big revenue generating nations from Europe would keep the commercial potential high.
For the 2019 Copa America seven cities will act as hosts. São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Salvador and Porto Alegre have been unofficially confirmed as host cities, but the remaining seventh spot is still to be decided. Fortaleza and Recife are the two remaining candidates.
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