Mario Vázquez Raña, President of the regional continental Olympic body, the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO), will preside over an Executive Board Meeting starting on Sunday, July 14, at the Hilton Barbados Resort.

The two-day meeting is considered an important catalyst in determining which city will have the honour of hosting the 18th edition of the quadrennial Pan American Games in 2019.

The cities vying for the hosting honors are Santiago, Chile; Bolivar, Venezuela; La Punta, Argentina; and Lima, Peru. Each country will have the opportunity to present their bid. The vote to decide who will host the 2019 Pan Am Games will take place at PASO’s next General Assembly scheduled for October 2013 in Toronto – host city of the upcoming 2015 Pan Am Games.

TORONTO 2015, which starts July 10, 2015, will involve more than 8,400 athletes, coaches and team officials from 42 nations in the Americas and the Caribbean competing in 36 sports. More than half of the Olympic sport competitions will be qualifiers for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

A delegation from Canada will also be at the meeting this Sunday giving an account of that country’s plans for the 2015 games.