The Attorney General’s Office demands explanations from the Minister of Sports regarding the cancellation of the 2027 Pan American Games in Barranquilla
The Attorney General’s Office requested the Minister of Sports, Astrid Bibiana Rodríguez, to provide details about the alleged breach of contract that led to the cancellation of the 2027 Pan American Games in Barranquilla. In the official letter, the Public Ministry asked the ministry: “inform the reasons that led to it and the economic or any other type of consequences that may be generated for the country and for Colombian athletes.”
Among the requests made by the Attorney General’s Office to the National Government are:
Send a copy of the contract signed by the Colombian authorities for the Host City of the XX Pan American Games to the city of Barranquilla. The reasons that Panam Sports Organization had for withdrawing the games and the termination of the contract signed with the Colombian authorities, Host City of the XX Pan American Games to the city of Barranquilla, and the actions carried out by the Ministry of Sports to fulfill this contract. If the termination of the aforementioned contract was generated by the alleged non-compliance of the Colombian authorities, inform the reasons that led to it and the economic or any other type of consequences that may be generated for the country and for Colombian athletes. Report the financial status of the contract, specifying: – Total value, if resources have been transferred, indicate their amount, the date, the recipient. – In the event of having transferred resources, indicate the procedure for their recovery.
Thus, the Minister of Sports has until next Friday, January 5, to respond to these requests. In this way, the Attorney General’s Office seeks to determine those possibly responsible for the cancellation of the international sporting event, which would imply a million-dollar investment in Barranquilla and other areas of the Caribbean region.
Let’s remember
The cancellation of the Pan American Games in Barranquilla was confirmed on January 3 by the president of Panam Sports, Neven Ilic, who alleged that Colombia failed to comply with the signed contract.
«Panam Sports withdraws the organization of the XX Pan American Games of the year 2027 from the Republic of Colombia, the department of Atlántico, the city of Barranquilla and the Colombian Olympic Committee (COC) and terminates as of this date (…) the Contract of Headquarters City”, reads the letter that Ilic sent to several leaders of the country.
The National Government, for its part, assured that the agreement for the payment of eight million dollars for “organization rights” and for the “granting of media rights” for the 2027 Pan American Games was scheduled for January and not for December, as initially understood, was stated by the Ministry of Sports in a statement published after the regional organization took away the venue for the 2027 Games.
Likewise, Mindeportes pointed out that the parties had reached an agreement in October to fulfill the contract, which included the payment of four million dollars for the “organization right” of the Pan American Games, an amount that had to have been disbursed on December 30. July of last year. However, the parties had supposedly agreed that the payment of the first four million dollars would be made before December 31, 2023 and the other four million dollars before January 31, 2024.
«In conversation with Neven Ilic, president of Panam Sports, the Minister of Sports, Astrid Bibiana Rodríguez, reached an agreement to make the total payment of eight million dollars during the month of January 2024, while there was a difficulty in doing so. during the term 2023″, the Ministry expressed in the statement.
Due to the above, the Ministry regretted that “surprisingly”, the regional organization sent the letter in which it stated, by “unilateral decision”, to terminate “the contract and cancel the holding of the Pan American Games in Barranquilla.”