The 2003 South American Under-17 Football Championship was played in Bolivia from 1 to 18 May 2003. The competition was originally scheduled for 28 February â 16 March in Maracay, Venezuela - it was postponed to May and moved to Bolivia due to social unrest in Venezuela; Venezuela were awarded the organisation of the 2005 edition instead.
The host of the competition were the cities of Santa Cruz de la Sierra and Montero.
The 10 national teams were drawn into 2 groups of 5 teams each. The top 2 teams from each group qualified for the final round.
The final round was played in the same system that the first round, with the best 4 teams.