Lima, Peru, to Host the 2027 Pan American Games

Lima, the capital of Peru, will host the 2027 Pan American Games, replacing Barranquilla. This was announced yesterday by the organization of the sports event Panam Sports, in its extraordinary assembly held in Miami. With a total of 28 out of 52 possible votes, the Peruvian candidacy surpassed Asuncion, Paraguay, in the voting and will stage the most important sporting event in the Americas for the second time, eight years after being the host in 2019.

Earlier this year, the city of Barranquilla, Colombia was cancelled as the host city due to the Colombian government’s failure to meet its payment commitments to Panam Sports. A period was then opened for other candidates to apply. Finally, Lima and Asunción expressed their interest in hosting the largest international multidisciplinary sports event in which athletes from the Americas participate.

Neven Ilic, president of Panam Sports, was in charge of announcing the winning venue, following the presentation of the two bids in Miami. The Peruvian delegation was represented by Peru’s highest political and sports dignitaries. Gustavo Adrianzen, president of the Council of Ministers, Rafael Lopez Aliaga, mayor of Lima, Renzo Manyari, president of the Peruvian Olympic Committee, and Eduardo Romay, representative of Peruvian athletes, participated in the event.

Barranquilla’s replacement

After the controversy over the withdrawal of the games from Barranquilla, the president of Panam Sports emphasized the benefits of the Peruvian candidacy and defended the election process.

“I want to highlight the transparency of the process and the brotherhood of both nations that competed healthily for the right to host the 2027 Pan American Games. I want to congratulate Lima, the Peruvian Olympic Committee and its president Renzo Manyari, and all of Peru for this tremendous achievement. A few years ago, they thrilled an entire continent and today, with more experience and a spectacular infrastructure, they want to repeat or improve on the success achieved in 2019,” said the top executive of Panam Sports.

It should be noted that Lima’s candidacy had the highest political support in his country. President Dina Boluarte was part of the presentation through a video, in which she said that “you have my commitment and that of all Peruvians to work tirelessly for Lima to make history again in 2027, in favor of athletes and all their families. We value the effort they make. We have experience, we did it with excellence in the 2019 Pan American and Parapan American Games. We have talented athletes, sports facilities and a willing country”.

The budget for the 2027 Pan American Games will exceed US$369 million, with an approximate 1.5% for contingencies. It was also announced that five additional towers, each with ten stories, will be built for the Pan American Village.

Controversy continues in Colombia

Although the controversy at the international level seems clearly ended with the new designation, in Colombia the cancellation of the venue in Barranquilla continues to fuel the political controversy. Not even the resignation less than a month ago of the Colombian Minister of Sport, Astrid Rodriguez, seems to have closed the issue.

In the contract signed in May 2021, the organizers committed to a series of payments with Panam Sports. Although the initial payments were made, they then opted to pay the remainder in installments. The first installment of US$4 million was to be paid by December 31, 2023 and a second installment of another US$4 million was to be paid by January 31. Neither of these two commitments was honored.

At the time of the cancellation, the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, announced in his social networks that the real reason for the cancellation was that the president of Panam Sports had already “a commitment with the president of Paraguay” to bring the venue to Asunción. With the designation of the Peruvian candidate, this theory seems to have been unfounded.

In spite of the efforts made by the Colombian government to recover the organization, the decision was firm from the very beginning, and the Colombian options faded away as quickly as the political controversy in the country increased.

Cross accusations

For a few weeks, as long as the Colombian hopes lasted, the political storm against the Minister of Sport and against the presidency led to cross accusations between the current government and the previous cabinet of President Ivan Duque (2018-2022).

President Petro claimed that the Colombian defaults had already originated during Ivan Duque’s term, which led to a strong response from the conservative political opposition against the current president.

Political priorities changed when, a few days later, drought-related forest fires shifted political and public attention. However, the resignation of the Minister of Sports continued to hover over national political life, until finally, on February 15, Astrid Rodriguez tendered her resignation.