What Is Wrong With Playing High?

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The debate over playing football, or “soccer” as the game is known to North Americans, at high altitudes reached new heights in 2007 and 2008. Late in May 2007, concerned about mounting criticism, the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) decided to ban games under its jurisdiction at altitudes above 2,500 meters. The ruling, which affected cities in Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru, prompted a stern reaction in much of Latin America. The public outcry was so noticeable that in June, FIFA increased the limit to 3,000 meters. The roll back, however, was only provisional. FIFA awaited the results of an October meeting of leading experts on high altitude physiology before making a final decision. In December, FIFA ruled that no games “would be permitted at an altitude in excess of 2,750 metres” and “recommended that the same limit be enforced in all other international competitions” (19). This still affected stadia in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru. However, FIFA agreed that games would be permitted if players were allowed to acclimatize. FIFA’s compromising ruling was once again staunchly opposed in South America. Football’s regional governing body, the Confederacion Sudamericana de Futbol (CONMEBOL), asked FIFA to reconsider imposing any altitude limit and ratified its support of the Bolivian national team “for disputing matches at great height, as is the case of the city of La Paz” (7). In March 2008, FIFA insisted on its 2,750 meters limit for international games (20). The following month, CONMEBOL countered FIFA’s ruling announcing that nine of its ten members were committed to competition at high altitude (8). While pressure mounted, early in May, FIFA temporarily suspended its ban. This allowed Bolivia and Ecuador to host qualifying home games for the 2010 Men’s World Cup in La Paz and Quito respectively. The concession was made, however, as Joseph Blatter, FIFA’s president stated, not to settle the issue but rather to “reopen the discussion” (5). Throughout the 2007 and 2008 heightened controversy over playing football at high altitudes, FIFA reiterated the rationale for the ban. It focused on “medical and sports-ethical reasons” (18). Defending the original 2,500 meters limit, Blatter declared that playing “above that altitude is not healthy or fair” (2). Later he added that “In the World Cup we must have equal conditions for everyone” (35). FIFA is also reputed to have justified the ban on grounds of a “possible distortion of competition” (2).