Reiterating Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s commitment to support the holding of the 2027 Pan American Games in Barranquilla, Sports Minister María Isabel Urrutia warned of the lack of resources to carry out the continental games.
"We have to look at the situation of how we can do it as a national government. We have to renegotiate the games and see if some of the neighboring cities help us because, what are these games worth" said Urrutia who explained that this is equivalent to not giving sports to children of "that deep Colombia" which the Government wants to reach.
When referring to the Pan American Games, Barranquilla stressed in a press conference that the president is in the "willingness to hold the 2027 Pan American Games".
The official explained that the total cost of the Pan American Games is 2.8 billion pesos (about 640.5 million dollars) but that the Ministry of Sports only has less than a third of that figure to support.
The official indicated that those in Barranquilla will be the second Pan American Games to be held in Colombia, but warned that "we also have to have the responsibility as citizens not to neglect the attention that the whole country needs".
Urrutia arrived in the city of Barranquilla to take a tour of the venues where the Pan American Games will be held in 2027, the vast majority of which were built for the Central American and Caribbean Games held in 2018.
Barranquilla was made official in August 2021 as the venue for the XX Pan American Games, which will be held in 2027, a designation that was made directly, that is, by acclamation, as enshrined in the statutes of the Pan American Sports Organization (Odepa).
To choose Barranquilla, PASO took into account the successful experience of the Central American and Caribbean Games in Barranquilla 2018, which cost less than the immediately preceding ones and had better logistical and sporting results.
The 2027 Pan American Games in Barranquilla, which will have the presence of athletes from 41 countries, will be part of the cycle that will culminate in the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028 and which includes the 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games.
It is the second time that Colombia has organized a Pan American Games, after Cali hosted it in 1971. The last four Pan American Games were organized by Rio de Janeiro (2007), Guadalajara (2011), Toronto (2015) and Lima (2019), in so much so that those of 2023 will be held in Santiago de Chile.