Editing CONMEBOL (section)

==History==
In 1916, the [[1916 South American Championship|first edition]] of the "Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol" (South-American Football Championship), later known as the "[[Copa América]]", was contested in Argentina to commemorate the centenary of the [[Argentine Declaration of Independence]]. The four participating associations of that tournament gathered in [[Buenos Aires]] in order to officially create a governing body to facilitate the organization of the tournament. Thus, CONMEBOL was founded on 9 July 1916 under the initiative of Uruguayan [[Héctor Rivadavia Gómez]], but approved by the football associations of [[Argentine Football Association|Argentina]], [[Brazilian Football Confederation|Brazil]], [[Federación de Fútbol de Chile|Chile]] and [[Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol|Uruguay]]. The first Constitutional Congress on 15 December of that same year, which took place in [[Montevideo]], ratified the decision.

Over the years, the other football associations in South America joined, with the last being [[Federación Venezolana de Fútbol|Venezuela]] in 1952. [[Guyana]], [[Suriname]] and the French [[overseas department]] of [[French Guiana]], while geographically in South America, are not part of CONMEBOL. Consisting of a former British territory, a former Dutch territory and a French territory, they are part of the [[CONCACAF|Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF)]], mainly due to historical, cultural, and sporting reasons as members of the "Caribbean" rimlands. With ten member nations, CONMEBOL is the smallest and the only fully continental land-based FIFA confederation (no insular countries or associates from different continents).