Tonight, Lima 2019 fulfilled the Peruvian Rugby Federation’s long-standing wish with the official delivery of the rugby 7 stadium and its warm-up field for Peruvian teams. In doing so, they reaffirmed their commitment to comply with the deadlines established by the Games Organizing Committee. This sports facility complies with high international standards in order to receive the best rugby players in the region.
The Infrastructure and Projects manager of Lima 2019, Wilhelm Funke, accompanied by the head of the Peruvian Rugby Federation, Néstor Corbetto, the World Rugby international technical delegate, Santiago Ramallo, as well as members of Peruvian rugby teams were present at the ceremony.
“It is important for Lima 2019 to have a high-level facility because it allows us to popularize little-known sports that can help us recover our society’s values,” said Engineer Funke, representative of the Organizing Committee.
In turn, Néstor Corbetto said that “it is a very touching moment for Peruvian rugby. Twenty-two years ago, when the federation was founded, we never thought of having a stadium like the one Lima 2019 is delivering to us. We will grow from this milestone.”
In turn, Santiago Ramallo, World Rugby representative, approved of the court’s quality. “World Rugby certifies the high standards of this venue. A pre-Olympic women’s tournament for Tokyo 2020 will be contested on this well-built stage. The challenge now is to capitalize this great investment,” he said.
The stadium’s first test event will be in the first week of June when the pre-Olympic tournament for Tokyo 2020 will be held with 10 South American teams. The best-placed team of the tournament, excluding Peru, Argentina, and Brazil, will qualify for Lima 2019, and the champion will go to the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
COMPETITION SYSTEM
The Lima 2019 rugby 7 tournament will take place between July 26 and 28 and, so far, the Peruvian women’s team is confirmed for the competition. Its possible rivals are Brazil, Argentina, Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Trinidad and Tobago. Also, an eighth qualified team will be added in South America.
The men’s team—popularly known as “Los Tumis”—will try qualifying through a South American tournament to be held between May and June. The rugby 7 teams that have secured their participation in Lima 2019 are two-time Pan American champion Canada, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, the United States, Jamaica and Guyana.
ABOUT LIMA 2019
The Opening Ceremony of the Lima 2019 Pan American Games will be held at the National Stadium on July 26, 2019. This continental event will gather 6680 athletes from 41 countries and delegations from the Americas.
There will be 17 days of competitions and ceremonies, between July 26 and August 11, 2019, which will take place in 14 districts of Lima and Callao at various venues such as VIDENA, Villa María Sports Center, Callao Regional Village, Villa El Salvador Sports Center, Punta Rocas, among others.
The Lima 2019 Pan American Games will include 39 sports and 62 disciplines, where athletes will compete for gold, silver and bronze medals. A total of 23 disciplines are qualifiers for the Tokyo 2020 the Olympic Games.
The Parapan American Games will gather 1890 Para athletes from 33 countries, participating in 17 sports and 18 disciplines. Competitions will take place between August 23 and September 1, 2019. Fourteen sports quotas for Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games will be granted.
ABAOUT PANAM SPORTS
Panam Sports (formerly known as Pan American Sports Organization - PASO) is the governing body of the Pan American Games and its structure and actions are defined by the Olympic Charter. Panam Sports is the leader of sports and the Olympic Movement in the Americas and encourages the sports development and supports the work of the 41 National Olympic Committees members of the organization in order to inspire more world-class performances and the next generation of athletes across our region.