After the Copa Merconorte and the Copa Mercosur were discontinued, a Pan-American club cup competition was intended, under the name of Copa Pan-Americana, but instead, a South American clubs only tournament was created. In 2003, the Japanese automobile manufacturer Nissan Motors started sponsoring the tournament. Thus, the competition has since been officially called Copa Nissan Sudamericana. Also, Brazilian teams participated for the first time, after refusing to play in the first edition due to scheduling conflicts with the Campeonato Brasileiro.