The 1921 South American Championship was the fifth continental championship for nations in South America. It was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 2 to 30 October 1921. The participating countries were Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay (which debuted in this edition) and Uruguay. Chile was also invited but withdrew before the draw due to internal dissent, and an invitation was sent to Argentine dissident Asociación Amateurs de Football that originated a conflict with the Argentine Football Association (the official local governing body and organiser of the competition). Argentina won the tournament, being also its first official title, after several friendly competitions won such as Copa Lipton or Copa Newton. Squads For a complete list of participating squads see: 1921 South American Championship squads Venues History Background The tournament was marked by the strong dispute between the Argentine Football Association (AFA) and dissident Asociación Amateurs de Football (AAmF, formed one year before). The AAmF had received an invitation from the Football Federation of Chile to play a tournament in that country. Most of the Big Five (with the exception of Boca Juniors) were affiliated to AAmF, which had 20 teams competing in their own championship. After the AAmF accepted the invitation, some of its most prominent players trip to Chile by train. Manuel Seoane, Humberto Recanatini, Luis Célico, Cándido García, Albérico Zabaleta, were among them. The invitation was taken as a pure provocation by the AFA, which requested South American Football Confederation (CSF) the FFCh to be punished. Being aware that they could receive a punishment, the FFCh retired its team from the competition so Chile did not attended the cup. Brazil did not include Paulista players (only Cariocas) due to a strong conflict, similar to what happened in Argentina. Paraguay arrived in Buenos Aires via Rosario, where the squad played some friendly matches v Newell's Old Boys and Tiro Federal. As a curious fact, it is worth mentioned that the Paraguayan ship also brought Rosarian players Ernesto Celli, Gabino Sosa, and Julio Libonatti (called up for Argentina) to Buenos Aires. On 29 September, there was a meeting where the Chilean case was debated. Argentine Minister of Foreign Affairs, Honorio Pueyrredón, host the meeting, where the Paraguayan delegate complained about the few time to train before their debut, contrasting with other teams that would play their first matches with more time to rest. That was solved after Argentina and Brazil agreed to