The Minister of Sports, Francisco Camacho, together with the president of the organizing committee of the Santo Domingo 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games, José P. Monegro, and the president of Centro Caribe Sports, Luis Mejía Oviedo, began a supervision tour of the facilities which will be used as a sub-venue for the San Salvador 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games.
Camacho, Luisín and Monegro made the first stop at the racquetball pavilion of the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center, which will serve as a sub-venue for that sport for the regional event whose opening is scheduled for June 23.
This regional multi-sport event will be held from June 23 to July 8, 2023 in the capital of El Salvador, while the Dominican Republic will host seven sports as a sub-venue.
Those sports are taekwondo, modern pentathlon, equestrian, canoeing, skeet shooting, racquetball, and field hockey.
Camacho, Monegro and Mejía visited the racquetball pavilion of the Olympic Center, a facility equipped with eight courts and which is in the completion phase of its renovation, which will be a work of the highest quality as required by the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games.
The minister stressed that “we have fully complied with the provisions issued by the President of the Republic, Luis Abinader Corona, that the Ministry of Sports provide everything necessary so that the sports facilities that will house seven disciplines as sub-venues are in optimum condition. conditions”.
“We will be ready to receive the delegations. These renovated works will be delivered on June 10, exactly on schedule, as planned and as we informed President Abinader,” revealed Camacho.
During the tour, which will include the other facilities, Camacho and the Olympic leaders and the organizing committee were accompanied by Rafael Fernández, who will serve as technical director of the racquetball competitions, and Rafael Uribe, in charge of sports facilities at the sub-venues of the Central American and Caribbean Games.
The celebration of the seven disciplines in the country is under the responsibility of the Ministry of Sports, the organizing committee of the Central American and Caribbean Games to be held in Santo Domingo in 2026 and Centro Caribe Sports, formerly known as Odecabe.
Monegro explained that when the Organizing Committee was entrusted with the organization of the San Salvador 2023 sub-venue, they coordinated with the Ministry of Sports and Recreation so that the interventions in the infrastructures would meet the requirements set for Santo Domingo 2026. “In this way you will only be advancing an investment that in any case should be made for the Central Americans and the Caribbean that correspond to the 26”.
“Several months ago, the Ministry of Sports, in coordination with the Organizing Committee, assumed control of the work to complete it on time, as well as the other works that will be used for the competitions,” he said.
Mejia Oviedo
Meanwhile, Mejía Oviedo assessed the conditions and the renovation process in which the courts of the racquetball pavilion of the Olympic Center are located, which is the first to be supervised, while the same will be done with the other facilities.
“We have already supervised the official headquarters in San Salvador, where the Salvadoran president, Nayib Bukele, has given unrestricted support to these Sports Games and we have seen that his Dominican counterpart, Luis Abinader, has done the same, and that is a sample of the success that awaits (the Games)”, explained the also member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
He specified that “Santo Domingo will have sports facilities at the highest level from these 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games, as a sub-venue, and until the completion of the official Santo Domingo 2023 venue,” said the leader.
Fernández, for his part, reported that the eight courts where the racquetball tournament will take place are the ones with the best conditions in the entire Central American and Caribbean area, with top-quality equipment.
“Rest assured, that this economic investment made by the Dominican Government and its President Luis Abinader, through the Ministry of Sports directed by Francisco Camacho, will be well valued and cared for by all racquetball lovers,” said Fernández.
He explained that two of the eight courts are equipped with front and side windows, a new roof and excellent lighting, with two dressing rooms for each sex.
It is the third time that the Dominican Republic will host a Central American and Caribbean Games, after those of El Salvador 2002 and Cartagena de Indias 2006.