ASUNCION: Chile has been chosen to host the final of the 2019 Copa Libertadores, the first to be played as a one-off game at a neutral venue, the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) said on Tuesday. The game, South America’s equivalent of the Champions League, will take place at the National Stadium in Santiago, probably in November next year. The National Stadium in Lima will host the 2019 final of the Copa Sudamericana, the continent’s equivalent of the Europa League, CONMEBOL added. The decisions were announced after CONMEBOL inspected the candidate cities to evaluate whether they were suitable to host the games. Rigorous studies of organisation, logistics, security, technology, accommodation and transport were carried out by CONMEBOL. Although no dates were announced for 2019, this year’s finals will take place in November and December. CONMEBOL changed the format to a one-off final after decades of home-and-away contests provoked protest from fans in a continent where the spending power is a fraction of that in Europe and where flights are long and costly. To compensate clubs for the loss of home gate money, CONMEBOL said each finalist will be given 25 percent of ticket sales for the final. Published in Daily Times, August 16th 2018.