CONMEBOL — South American Football Confederation

What is CONMEBOL?

CONMEBOL — the Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol, the South American Football Confederation — describes itself as “el organismo rector del fútbol sudamericano” (the governing body of South American football) and as “la confederación continental del deporte rey más antigua del mundo”, the oldest continental confederation in the sport.^[4] That second description is the confederation’s own; no independent source for it was retrieved.

Article 1 of its statutes defines it as “una Asociación Civil de Derecho Privado, sin fines de lucro, constituida por las asociaciones nacionales de fútbol de Sudamérica (Asociaciones Miembro), miembros de la Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)” — a private, non-profit civil association made up of South America’s national football associations, each a FIFA member.^[2] For its legal personality it is “una asociación de capacidad restringida regida por el Título II del Libro I del Código Civil Paraguayo y la Ley del Deporte de Paraguay”.^[2] Its official languages are Spanish and Portuguese (Article 2).^[2]

It covers association football — soccer — in the eleven-a-side game, futsal and beach soccer: the Copa América it organises is played in all three formats.^[7] FIFA’s Statutes list it first among the six recognised confederations, as “Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol – CONMEBOL”.^[1]

What does CONMEBOL govern or do?

The statutes give CONMEBOL control of international football on the continent. Article 63(1) reads: “La CONMEBOL, a través de su Consejo, tiene la facultad exclusiva para crear, aprobar, reconocer, modificar, eliminar, organizar y dirigir partidos, competiciones y torneos internacionales en Sudamérica” — the exclusive power, exercised through its Council, to create, approve, recognise, organise and direct international matches and tournaments in South America.^[2]

It writes the rules for its own competitions and enforces them. Its published regulations include the Código Disciplinario CONMEBOL 2026, dated 1 January 2026, club manuals for the 2026 Libertadores and Sudamericana, and a 2026 security regulation.^[5] Medical and anti-doping matters sit with its Comisión Médica y Unidad Antidopaje.^[9] Disputes may go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport: “La CONMEBOL reconoce la jurisdicción del Tribunal Arbitral del Deporte (TAD) con sede en Lausana (Suiza)”, once internal remedies are exhausted (Article 62).^[2]

The members are the national associations (Article 1), and the exclusive power in Article 63 is framed around international matches, competitions and tournaments in South America; national championships such as Argentina’s Liga Profesional or Brazil’s Brasileirão fall outside that wording.^[2]

When was CONMEBOL founded and where is it based?

The statutes open with the founding date: CONMEBOL was “fundada el 9 de julio de 1916”.^[2] The day rests on the confederation’s own statutes, and its institutional page gives the year 1916; no independent source for the date, or for the place of founding, was retrieved.^[4] The statutes list four associations as members “desde 1916” (since 1916) — Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay — the earliest year attached to any member.^[2]

The seat is fixed by statute. Article 1(3) reads: “Su sede permanente está radicada en la ciudad de Luque (Gran Asunción), República del Paraguay.”^[2] The confederation gives its address as Avenida Sudamericana y Valois Rivarola, Luque.^[4]

CONMEBOL publishes two editions of its statutes: one dated 2016 and the current one dated 2019.^[3] The text cited here closes: “Los presentes Estatutos han sido aprobados por el Congreso Extraordinario de la CONMEBOL del 4 de junio del 2019 en París, Francia.”^[2] Founding and recognition are separate dates: the date on which FIFA first recognised CONMEBOL could not be established from the documents retrieved, and the May 2024 FIFA Statutes record the recognition as it stands today.^[1]

How is CONMEBOL recognised?

The recognising act is FIFA’s. Article 22(1) of the FIFA Statutes (May 2024 edition) reads: “Member associations that belong to the same continent have formed the following confederations, which are recognised by FIFA”, and lists CONMEBOL first, followed by the AFC, UEFA, CAF, Concacaf and the OFC.^[1] Under Article 11(2), “Membership is only permitted if an association is currently a member of a confederation.”^[1] CONMEBOL’s own Article 3(1) puts it this way: “La FIFA reconoce que la CONMEBOL es la Confederación que rige y dirige el fútbol en Sudamérica.”^[2]

Recognition carries duties. Article 22(3) of the FIFA Statutes requires each confederation, among other things, “to comply with and enforce compliance with the Statutes, regulations and decisions of FIFA”, “to organise its own interclub competitions, in compliance with the international match calendar” and “to organise all of its own international competitions in compliance with the international match calendar”; under Article 22(5) its statutes and regulations must be notified to FIFA.^[1]

In the continental multi-sport movement, football is one of the 38 sports on the programme of the Lima 2027 Pan American Games, which Panam Sports schedules for 23 July to 8 August 2027.^[8] Panam Sports links its list of recognised sports confederations to ACODEPA, whose site could not be retrieved; no source retrieved names the body Panam Sports recognises for the football tournament.

What does CONMEBOL organise?

CONMEBOL names its main competitions as “la CONMEBOL Copa América, la CONMEBOL Libertadores, la CONMEBOL Sudamericana y la CONMEBOL Recopa”.^[4]

The Copa América has women’s, futsal and beach-soccer editions besides the men’s tournament; CONMEBOL issued a regulation for the Copa América Futsal 2026 on 16 December 2025, and the tournament site names a Finalissima Futsal 2026.^[5][7] The women’s club competition is the Copa Libertadores Femenina, and an under-20 Libertadores has its own 2026 regulation.^[5]

All of these are held under Article 63 of the statutes, which gives CONMEBOL, through its Council, the exclusive power to “crear, aprobar, reconocer, modificar, eliminar, organizar y dirigir” international tournaments in South America.^[2]

Who are its members?

Article 5(3) of the statutes lists the ten “Asociaciones Miembro de la CONMEBOL, a la fecha de la sanción del presente Estatuto”, each with the year from which it is listed as a member (“desde”): the Asociación del Fútbol Argentino (Argentina, 1916), the Confederação Brasileira de Futebol (Brazil, 1916), the Federación de Fútbol de Chile (Chile, 1916), the Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol (Uruguay, 1916), the Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol (Paraguay, 1921), the Federación Boliviana de Fútbol (Bolivia, 1925), the Federación Deportiva Nacional Peruana de Fútbol (Peru, 1925), the Federación Ecuatoriana de Fútbol (Ecuador, 1927), the Federación Colombiana de Fútbol (Colombia, 1936) and the Federación Venezolana de Fútbol (Venezuela, 1953).^[2] The confederation’s institutional page gives the same ten.^[4]

Membership is by national association: under Article 1 the members are “las asociaciones nacionales de fútbol de Sudamérica”, each also a member of FIFA.^[2] FIFA’s Article 11(2) makes that confederation membership a condition of each association’s FIFA membership.^[1] The ten associations meet in its Congress; an Extraordinary Congress adopted the current statutes in Paris on 4 June 2019.^[2]