FIFA altitude ban

The high-altitude football controversy arose in May 2007 when FIFA introduced a temporary ban on international matches at more than 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) above sea level, citing concerns about players' health and the "unfair" advantage to acclimatised home teams. The ruling meant that Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia would be prevented from hosting FIFA World Cup qualifiers in their own capital cities. The ban was revoked in May 2008.

The ruling followed complaints by the Brazilian Football Confederation that La Paz and other Andean venues left visiting players gasping for breath and with pounding hearts. Brazilian club Flamengo had vowed to boycott high-altitude games after several of its players resorted to using bottled oxygen during a Copa Libertadores fixture against Real Potosí of Bolivia, held in rainy conditions at an altitude of 4,000 metres (13,000 ft). Following this complaint a number of other Brazilian clubs declared that they would not play Copa Libertadores games at high altitude and put pressure on the Brazilian Football Confederation and FIFA to impose a ban on football at high altitude.

The ruling required players to arrive at the host city one week before international games above 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) and two weeks for matches higher than 3,000 metres (9,800 ft), to allow time to adjust to the thin air.

Many of Bolivia's major cities, including Sucre and Potosí, are at high altitude. Bolivia's President, Evo Morales, vowed to lead a campaign against the ban after speaking after an emergency cabinet meeting. Morales said the ruling amounted to discrimination: "This is not only a ban on Bolivia, but it is also a ban on the universality of sports." Morales described the ban as "football apartheid," said he would send a high-level delegation to FIFA's headquarters in Zurich, and called on other countries to join his campaign. "We cannot allow discrimination in football, we cannot allow... exclusion in the world of sports," he added.

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Wikipedia