Get used to hearing the word CONMEBOL over the coming weeks.
The name of the South American football federation is already widely known among football fans, but it will likely become part of more everyday conversation between June 20 and July 14, as the CONMEBOL Copa America 2024 takes place.
The tournament — which brings together the best sides from across the Americas in a special edition for 2024 — will be hosted by the United States for the first time.
But what exactly does CONMBEOL mean, and what does the name stand for? Here, we take a look.
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What does CONMBEOL mean?
CONMEBOL is the official name for the governing body that organizes football in South America, the Confederacion Sudamericana de Futbol.
Originally that body was known as the CSF, but over time it has become common usage that parts of those words have been spliced together — "Con" (as in CONfederacion), "me" (as in SudaMEricana) and "bol" (as in FutBOL) — to create the reference most fans use today.
The reasons behind that are believed to stem from the fact that, in the past, the organization took that approach on referring to itself in order to reduce the number of words required to send a message by telegram. Thus, they took as reference the syllables from the beginning, the middle and the last words of their title.
MORE: All-time list of Copa America winners: Which team has won the most titles?
Which teams are in CONMBEOL?
CONMEBOL was founded on July 9, 1916 in Buenos Aires and currently has 10 members.
It is the conference with the fewest members in world football, although it is the oldest entity associated with FIFA.
The member nations are: Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.
CONMEBOL not only organizes the Copa America but also runs the Copa Libertadores, the Copa Sudamericana and the Recopa.
Its elected president is Alejandro Dominguez and its headquarters are in Luque, Asuncion in Paraguay).
