Contract signed for San Salvador to stage 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games. The Olympic Committee of El Salvador (COES), the National Institute of Sports of El Salvador and the Mayor’s Office of San Salvador all signed the agreement. Centro Caribe Sports will be hopeful that this ends any uncertainty surrounding an event initially scheduled for 2022. Panama City was the original host, but pulled out in July 2020 in light of coronavirus concerns. San Salvador and Mayagüez in Puerto Rico emerged as the two contenders to fill the void left by the Panamanian capital, but Mayagüez then withdrew from the race in April of this year over financial concerns. When San Salvador was awarded the event, it had been moved to 2023 “to guarantee repairs to sports facilities”. The signing of the hosting contract represents a final hurdle being cleared on the path to San Salvador staging the Central American and Caribbean Games for a third time, following the 1935 and 2002 editions. Centro Caribe Sports President Luis Mejía Oviedo, COES counterpart Eduardo Palomo, Yamil Bukele from the National Institute of Sports of El Salvador and San Salvador Mayor Mario Durán all signed the document. Centro Caribe Sports plans to have a permanent residence in San Salvador in the lead-up to the Games, with a delegation due to visit the country shortly.
