Over a period of 40 years Melecio Rivera played in table tennis tournaments in both his native El Salvador and across Central America. In 1983 Rivera was elected as the President of the El Salvador Table Tennis Federation, serving in the role until 2017. During this time he held several other high-profile positions including the President of the National Olympic Committee of El Salvador (1987–99), President of the Central American Table Tennis Confederation (1990–2007), and President of the Central American Sports Organization (1994–2001). Rivera continued to be associated with table tennis, first as the President of the Latin American Table Tennis Union (2006–10), in addition to joining the executive committee of the International Table Tennis Federation in 2009.
El Salvador