The San Salvador Games have a new date: they will now be in June 2023, just four months before the Pan American Games in Chile

The Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador, El Salvador 2023 have a new date to ensure the best possible conditions in its organization.

The regional mega event will now take place from June 23 to July 8. The previous date was from May 6 to 21.

The decision was informed during the Extraordinary General Assembly of Centro Caribe Sports in which 37 countries participated virtually.

With this change in the calendar, these Games will now be held four months after the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, scheduled between October 20 and November 5.

“We have taken on this challenge with a lot of responsibility and a lot of enthusiasm. Our goal is to organize high-level games with all the required standards,” said the president of the Organizing Committee of San Salvador Yamil Bukele.

The Salvadoran authorities have reiterated their confidence in organizing “the best Games” despite having just two years to hold them as an emerging venue after Panama’s resignation in the summer of 2020.

The greater time and the greater budget originated in the loan from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), will be consumed by the remodeling of nine sports facilities headed by the “Jorge ‘Mágico’ González” park, formerly called “Flor Blanca”.

This venue hosted the Central American and Caribbean Games in 1935 and 2002 and the Central American Games in 1977 and 1994.

For the 2023 edition, this facility will host the opening and closing ceremonies and the soccer and athletics tournaments.

Its general modernization will include a new track that must be certified internationally. The hosts hope this investment will allow top level athletics events to return to the stadium.

Although the sports program is yet to be officially announced, the organizers have made public their interest in including beach soccer, futsal, bodybuilding and chess.

About 5,000 athletes from 37 countries will attend the mega-event.

It will be the second time that a zonal fair and a continental fair coincide in the same year. In 1959, Caracas, Venezuela hosted the Central American and Caribbean Games in January and Chicago the Pan American Games in September.

The XXV Central American and Caribbean Games in 2026 will be hosted by Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.