Speaking at a press conference in Panama City Sunday, WBSC Americas president Aracelis Leon told the assembled media that the 2025 Copa America de Beisbol hasn’t been cancelled.
The event, she told the assembled media, has been postponed to 2026, and will be played in Panama, adding that a suit has been filed against the event’s promoters.
“We recognize and understand the efforts made by WBSC Americas, the entire executive committee that is here with me, and all the federations to host this event here. The only word to use is ‘rescheduling’, or the word ‘postponed,'” Leon said in Spanish in a video posted by Panamanian news outlet COSPanama. “The Copa América will happen; it will happen in Panama.”
Late Friday night, word spread that the tournament had been cancelled after a post from the Nicaraguan national team on Instagram just hours after Curacao, Colombia, and Argentina announced their rosters for the event on Friday afternoon. According to Leon, the event is being postponed due to operational problems with outside promoters hired by the WBSC Americas to promote and run the event.
“We are already taking legal action against this company, as it has caused harm not only to all the federations that were coming to this event, but also, in this case, to your country, Panama,” Leon said. “Of course, all of this takes a reasonable amount of time, as you know we are entering into litigation, right?”
Two promoters, New York-based Loarte Consulting and Oaktree International Sports & Entertainment Ventures, were known to be involved in the 2025 Copa America. A message sent to Loarte Consulting via the professional social media network LinkedIn seeking comment has yet to be returned, as has an email sent to Oaktree requesting comment. In the video posted by COSPanama, Leon did say who, exactly, was being sued over the Copa America postponement or where the suit was filed. A search of New York State and federal court filings did not show any cases filed against either Loarte or Oaktree.
The Copa America, which was first announced in November 2024, was originally scheduled to be hosted at Estadio Fernando Valenzuela in Hermosillo, Mexico and Estadio Teodoro Mariscal in Mazatlan, as well as Panama. Then the Mexico host site was suddenly changed to El Nido de Las Aguilas, the home of the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico’s Aguilas de Mexicali in Mexicali, Mexico.
In August 2025, Venezuela’s Estadio Monumental Simon Bolivar in Caracas and Estadio Jorge Luis García Carneiro in La Guaira became group play host venues.
Less than a month later, the entire tournament was moved to Panama’s Estadio Mariano Rivera. A report last week in DiarioLibre, a newspaper based in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, stated the tournament was moved out of Venezuela when the Dominican Republic’s team refused to travel to the South American country when the Dominican government, which no longer has diplomatic relations with Venezuela, advised the team that they would not be able to provide assistance should the team have difficulties in Venezuela.
“The important thing is to remain focused on the fact that there must be a Copa América, and that Panama, through its president, has continued to lead the way, stating his confidence that the Copa América can be held in the country,” Leon said in the video from the press conference. “Some adjustments will be made, and some more proactive regulations will be established … so that this kind of thing can’t happen again, not with the Copa América or anything else.”
Photo: Estadio Mariano Rivera was scheduled to host the super round and medal round games at the 2025 Copa America de Beisbol. (Courtesy of the WBSC)
