NEW YORK: The United States, after all, host of the centenary edition of the Copa America next year.

An ongoing US Justice Department investigation into allegations of corruption within the international game, including key executives and commercial rights-holders in connection with the tournament, had raised questions over whether the tournament would go ahead as scheduled from June 3-26, 2016.

However, CONMEBOL and CONCACAF, the governing bodies of football in Latin America and North and Central America respectively, said that the Copa America Centenario will take place in the US – the first time the event will have been staged outside of Latin America.

The US Soccer Federation said that it would “immediately begin securing venues for the tournament and planning the operational aspects of the event.”

Earlier this year, 24 metropolitan areas showed an interest in hosting matches during the tournament and submitted proposals to the national governing body.

Host stadia must have a minimum capacity of 50,000. “US Football will immediately begin securing venues for the tournament and planning the operational aspects,” said a statement from the federation.

Confirmation of the US staging the event came the confederations reclaimed the media and commercial rights for the competition from the Datisa agency, which has been named in the US DoJ probe.

“The confederations will issue in the upcoming days a joint request for proposals publicly to ensure transparency and accountability in the selection of new commercial partners to market these rights,” a joint statement said.

All 10 nations from CONMEBOL will play in the tournament while the US, Mexico, Jamaica and Costa Rica will feature, as well as two other CONCACAF teams.

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