The VIII Central American Games (Spanish: VIII Juegos Deportivos Centroamericanos) was a multi-sport event that took place between 3 and 12 March 2006. The games were initially scheduled between 9 and 18 December 2005 in Guatemala with support of El Salvador. However, the damages caused by Hurricane Stan in October 2005 led to the resignment of the designated hosts. Therefore, only a basic version of the games was organized with venuesdistributed over five countries. A sober opening ceremony took place inManagua, Nicaragua, with Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras,and Panamá being co-hosts. The games were opened by ORDECA president from Panamá.