By Paul Nicholson
September 29 – After a longer than anticipated wait, the Centennial Cup America has been officially added to the 2016 FIFA events calendar. The dates mean that the oldest international cup competition in the world will overlap with UEFA’s revamped 24-team Euro 2016 championships for 16 days.
The centennial edition of the Copa America will be played in the US, June 3-26, 2016, for the first time. UEFA’s expanded European Championships – from 16 to 24 teams – will be played June 10 to July 10, 2016.
The addition to the 2016 events calendar means that all countries will be able to make a mandatory call for the services of their players from any club in the world, ensuring the best players will be present.
The Europe versus the Americas battle is now on for broadcast rights and global sponsors.
“With its addition to the FIFA Calendar, the historic Centennial Cup America in 2016 is now set to be the most important full national team tournament hosted in the Americas since this year’s FIFA World Cup,” said CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb. “We want to thank FIFA, all Confederations and all others involved for their unconditional support in this process, making sure that this once in a lifetime celebration was treated with the respect that the players, football fans around the world and participating countries deserve.”
For Centennial Cup America, CONMEBOL’s ten Member Associations – Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela – will be joined by six competitors from CONCACAF, including host and 2013 Gold Cup champion United States, six-time Gold Cup champion Mexico and 2014 Central American Cup winner Costa Rica. The champion of the 2014 Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Caribbean Cup this November will join them, plus two more qualifier from next year’s 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Argentina hosted the last Copa America in 2011, with Uruguay claiming a record fifteenth title. The next edition will be played in Chile in 2015.
wematch, a partnership between three South American-based agencies – Full Play, Torneos and Traffic Sports – holds the commercial rights.
CAA Eleven is selling the commercial rights to UEFA’s national team competition.
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