What is ODESUR?
ODESUR, the Organizacion Deportiva Suramericana, is the sub-continental association of the South American National Olympic Committees. It describes itself as "the Olympic movement of South America" and as a private-law, non-profit international association whose activity is subject to the principles of the Olympic Charter.[1]
Its single defining property is the South American Games, held since 1978. Olympedia records that the organisation was created because the South American nations felt under-represented inside the wider Pan American structure — a founding motive that still describes the body's position, since its members are simultaneously members of Panam Sports and enter the Pan American Games through it.[4]
For a competition record, the distinction matters: a South American Games result is a sub-continental result awarded by ODESUR, while a Pan American Games result is continental and awarded by Panam Sports. Both are entered through the athlete's National Olympic Committee.[7]
What does ODESUR govern or do?
ODESUR awards its Games, agrees the sports programme with the host organising committee, and admits the delegations of its member NOCs. Its stated mission is to "support, stimulate and promote sport in this region of South America, without distinction of gender or race, protecting the well-being of athletes and National Olympic Committees".[2]
The Games it owns carry qualification weight. The official Santa Fe 2026 site records that athletics at the XIII South American Games awarded qualifying places for the 2027 Pan American Games, which makes ODESUR a link in the chain that ends at Olympic qualification rather than a body that qualifies athletes directly for the Olympic Games.[5]
The statutes of ODESUR were not retrievable — no statutes or constitution document was reachable on odesur.org — so this section rests on the organisation's own descriptive pages and on the host committee's published material, and the precise allocation of powers between ODESUR and a host organising association is not documented here.[1] [5]
When was ODESUR founded and where is it based?
ODESUR states that it was established in 1976 in La Paz, Bolivia, by a group of sports leaders, with Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Peru as founding members.[1] Olympedia gives a precise founding date of 26 March 1976 and records the original and current name as the same, Organizacion Deportiva Suramericana.[4] This page could not establish a separate IOC recognition date and does not assert one.
The first South American Games followed in La Paz in 1978, two years after the founding — a sequence that mirrors the gap between the creation of a Games-owning body and the first celebration of its Games elsewhere in the region.[4]
The headquarters is at the Parque Olimpico on the Autopista Nu Guasu in Luque, Paraguay, in the Asuncion metropolitan area.[2] [3] The executive committee is headed by president Mario Moccia of Argentina, with Paulo Wanderley as vice-president, Miguel Angel Mujica as general secretary and Marco Arce as treasurer.[1] No rename has been recorded.
How is ODESUR recognised?
The Olympic Charter is the background instrument. Rule 3.2 provides that the IOC "may also recognise associations of NOCs formed at continental or world level", that they "must comply with the Olympic Charter" and that "their statutes are subject to the approval of the IOC".[6] ODESUR is a sub-continental body, not one of the five continental associations, and it does not appear in the Charter's table of abbreviations, which lists ANOC, ANOCA, OCA, PANAM SPORTS, ONOC and the EOC.[6]
What carries directly is Rule 27.7.5, the NOCs' right to "take part in activities led or patronised by the IOC, including regional Games" — the provision under which a national delegation enters a Games of this kind.[6]
ODESUR's own statement of status is that it is an autonomous international association whose sporting nature is subject to unrestricted compliance with the principles of the Olympic Charter.[1] That is the body's own characterisation; this page could not retrieve an IOC instrument naming ODESUR, and states its standing on that basis.
What does ODESUR organise?
The South American Games are its property. Olympedia lists editions from La Paz 1978 through Rosario 1982, Santiago 1986, Lima 1990, Valencia 1994, Cuenca 1998, Brazil 2002, Buenos Aires 2006, Medellin 2010, Santiago 2014, Cochabamba 2018 and Asuncion 2022.[4]
The XIII edition opened in Santa Fe, Argentina on 12 September 2026 and runs to 26 September, with competition across Santa Fe, Rosario and Rafaela plus venues in Parana, Vicente Lopez and Mar del Plata; reporting gives more than 4,000 athletes from 15 countries across 43 sports and 60 disciplines.[7] [5] As of 13 September 2026 the Games are under way, and no result from them is reported here.
The Bolivarian Games cover part of the same territory but belong to a different organisation, whose stated domain does not resolve and which is therefore not linked from this site.
Who are its members?
ODESUR states that it today comprises 14 full member National Olympic Committees of South America plus one associate committee, having begun with five founders.[1] Its own site links the NOCs of Argentina, Aruba, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Curacao, Ecuador, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela, which is how non-continental Caribbean territories and Panama come to sit inside a South American body.[3]
The Santa Fe 2026 organisers describe participation by athletes from "the 15 member countries of ODESUR", a figure that counts the associate alongside the full members and illustrates why published membership totals for this body differ by one.[5] This page flags the discrepancy rather than resolving it.
Membership is derived from IOC recognition of the NOC: each member is a committee recognised at world level, and entry to ODESUR's Games is made by that committee, not by a national federation acting alone.[6]
References
- ODESUR — Quienes somos. Accessed September 2026.
- ODESUR — Vision, mision y contacto. Accessed September 2026.
- ODESUR — official site home. Accessed September 2026.
- Olympedia — Organizacion Deportiva Suramericana. Accessed September 2026.
- XIII Juegos Suramericanos Santa Fe 2026 — Deportes (official site). Accessed September 2026.
- International Olympic Committee — Olympic Charter, in force as from 3 February 2026 (PDF). Accessed September 2026.
- El Litoral — Juegos Suramericanos Santa Fe 2026: el calendario completo. Accessed September 2026.