Anger Echoes in South America After FIFA Bans Games at Altitude

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/sports/29soccer.html

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: May 29, 2007

LA PAZ, Bolivia, May 28 (AP) — President Evo Morales of Bolivia said Monday that FIFA’s ban on matches played more than 8,200 feet above sea level discriminated against Latin America’s high-altitude nations.

FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, announced the prohibition Sunday, drawing outrage from fans and administrators across Latin America. Morales said he would fight the decision.

The ban eliminates international matches in the capitals of Colombia, Bolivia and Ecuador, as well as in the hometowns of major clubs in Mexico and Peru.

Morales, an avid soccer player, called for people in Bolivia’s highlands to play soccer in the streets on Wednesday in a mass demonstration of high-altitude sport.

“This is not only a ruling against Bolivia, but against the universality of sport,” Morales said after an emergency cabinet meeting at the presidential palace in La Paz, which is 11,800 feet above sea level.

FIFA cited a concern for players’ health and home-field advantage of high-altitude teams over their visiting lowland rivals.

“He who wins at altitude, wins with dignity,” Morales said. “He who fears altitude has no dignity.”

The ruling eliminates games in La Paz and other major Bolivian cities and the Colombian capital, Bogotá; the Ecuadorean capital, Quito; and the Peruvian city Cuzco.

Most of Mexico City falls under the limit at 7,200 feet, but Toluca — home to Mexico’s most successful club in recent years — is above the limit.

Toluca’s press chief, Mauricio Garduno, said extreme heat and cold also created an advantage for some home teams.

“When you play a match at 104 degrees, that’s what affects players the most,” Garduno said. “Altitude is not that important. If FIFA is going to consider that, it should consider other things, too.”

The FIFA decision follows a Copa Libertadores match in February between the Brazilian club Flamengo and Real Potosi of Bolivia. The game was played in freezing rain at 13,120 feet.

The Brazilian players, who train at sea level in Rio de Janeiro, took oxygen during the game and tied the match, 2-2. But Flamengo officials vowed never again to play at such high altitude, complaining of “unsporting and inhumane” conditions.

“We didn’t have the luck to be born anywhere else,” said Ruben Cuenca, 45, a pastry seller on the streets of La Paz. “We have to play sports wherever we are. If not, where would we go to play, the beach? And play soccer with the crabs?”