CONMEBOL moves Caracas v Santa Fe in the Libertadores Femenina to Friday at 10 pm over the Venezuelan squad's visas

The 2026 Copa Libertadores Femenina kicked off in Quito on Thursday with one match fewer than the four scheduled. CONMEBOL rescheduled Caracas FC v Independiente Santa Fe, from matchday one of Group A, for Friday 16 October at 10 pm (Ecuador and Colombia time; midnight Saturday in Argentina) at the Estadio Rodrigo Paz Delgado. The game had originally been set for Thursday at 7 pm at the same venue.

A statement with no reasons, and a club with no visas

The notice came from CONMEBOL's Directorate of Competitions and Operations, which announced the new date and kick-off time but gave no explanation for the change. The context, however, had been public since Wednesday: Caracas FC had released a statement warning that its participation was "in doubt" for "reasons outside the sporting sphere", because its delegation had not received the visas needed to enter Ecuador.

"We still have not received a response from the Ecuadorian authorities," the Venezuelan club's statement read. The club said it had completed every required formality on time, rejected the idea that the situation should undermine its squad's sporting merit, thanked CONMEBOL and the Venezuelan Football Federation for their efforts and asked for "some solution" in the following hours.

According to Infobae Colombia, CONMEBOL treated the case as force majeure, the exception in the regulations that prevents a team that fails to show up from forfeiting the match. That outlet and Win Sports report that the Caracas delegation plans to fly to Quito on Friday itself, a few hours before the new kick-off. Caracas are Venezuela's only representative in the tournament.

Group A is already under way

While Santa Fe wait, the group still opened on Thursday at 3 pm Ecuador time (5 pm in Argentina) with defending champions Corinthians against Colo-Colo at the Rodrigo Paz Delgado. At the same time, Belgrano made their debut against Independiente del Valle at the Banco Guayaquil, where Palmeiras and Universitario play at 7 pm.

For Las Leonas, runners-up in Colombia's 2026 Liga Femenina after losing the final to Deportivo Cali and Copa finalists in 2021 and 2024, the schedule stays tight: according to Infobae, they face Colo-Colo on Sunday 18 and Corinthians on Wednesday 21, both at 3 pm Colombia time (5 pm in Argentina).

The Copa in numbers

• 16 teams from 10 countries, from 15 to 31 October, all in Quito.
• Four groups of four; the top two in each group go through to the quarter-finals on 24 and 25 October.
• Group A: Corinthians (Brazil), Colo-Colo (Chile), Independiente Santa Fe (Colombia) and Caracas FC (Venezuela).

Sources: CONMEBOL, Primicias, Infobae Colombia, Deportes RCN, Win Sports, El Tiempo, Publimetro Colombia, El Universo.