Héctor Rivadavia Gomez ( Dolores, Uruguay, 1880 – Montevideo, 1931) was a journalist, politician, and football director of the

Uruguayan Football Association The Uruguayan Football Association ( es, Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol — ) is the governing body of football in Uruguay. It was founded in 1900, as The Uruguayan Association Football League, and affiliated to FIFA in 1923. It is a founding m ...

. He was the creator and first president of the CONMEBOL (and then honorary president). Rivadavia Gómez also encouraged the creation of the South American championships, currently known as " Copa América".

Biography

As a journalist, Rivadavia Gómez made a career as chief of section in '' El Día'' newspaper. He also directed ''El Telégrafo'' and founded other daily newspapers, '' La Mañana'' and '' El Diario''. His political career started as deputy of Colorado Party representing

Canelones Department The Departamento de Canelones ( es, Departamento de Canelones; ) is one of the 19 uruguayan departments. With an area of and 518,154 inhabitants, it is located in the south of Uruguay. Its capital is Canelones. Geography and climate Neighbour ...

from 1908 to 1914. He also represented Montevideo from 1923 to 1926. Rivadavia Gómez also worked in the Uruguayan Government, being in charge of the National Post Office of Uruguay. He represented

(AUF), achieving Uruguay was elected as host of the first

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will b ...

. He presided the AUF (1907–12) and club

Montevideo Wanderers Montevideo Wanderers Fútbol Club, usually known simply as Wanderers, is a Uruguayan professional football club based in Montevideo. The club are currently members of the Primera División and play at the Estadio Viera. Beside football, the cl ...

(1915–19, 1923). Rivadavia Gómez was responsible for first proposing the idea of a

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

n football confederation, the origins of CONMEBOL. An old personal project of him, it became a distinct possibility during the first South American championship held in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

between July 2 and July 17, 1916, as part of the commemorations of Argentina's Independence centenary. On July 9, 1916, (the exact day of the 100th anniversary of Argentine Declaration of Independence), the football leaders of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

met in

to study his idea, which was approved ad-referendum by each of the national associations.

References

External links

Conmebol Official Website
Presidents of CONMEBOL Association football executives 1880 births 1931 deaths People from Dolores, Uruguay Colorado Party (Uruguay) politicians {{Uruguay-footy-bio-stub