This time, it's official.
Back in January, we first heard about the plans for a special edition of the Copa América to be held in the United States to celebrate the 100th anniversary of CONMEBOL. But on Wednesday, the South American governing body made it official with the backing of all its highest-ranking executives.
CONMEBOL held a five-hour meeting on Wednesday in Buenos Aires where the presidents of the 10 national soccer federations joined CONMEBOL's five-man executive committee to lay down the framework of what they call a "mega-tournament" named the Copa América Centenario.
The notes of Wednesday's meeting were published by CONMEBOL's official site and they reiterate some of the details that were previously rumored:
1) The tournament will be held in July of 2016;
2) A total of 16 countries will participate, including all 10 from CONMEBOL and six from CONCACAF;
3) The USA and Mexico are automatic entries into the tournament;
4) The remaining four CONCACAF countries will be determined based on their finish in the CONCACAF Gold Cup;
5) Colombian federation president Luis Bedoya and his Paraguayan counterpart Juan Ángel Napout were charged with setting up the commercial plans for the event;
6) Full Play, a soccer promoter which has been involved in organizing matches stateside in the past, will be involved in the organization;
7) Fox Sports and Rede Globo are contemplated to take the lead in the broadcasting of the tournament.
No other details were released about proposed sites or format. And no word yet from the US Soccer Federation or CONCACAF on the news released by CONMEBOL.
And finally, here is one other detail that emerged from the CONMEBOL summit that US fans will be interested in: Mexico and Japan will be invited to participated in the 44th edition of the Copa América that will be held in 2015 in Chile. No USMNT for that one.
