Yes the subject was misleading
http://rawstory.com/news/dpa/FIFA_high_altitude_ban_sparks_South_05282007.html
FIFA high altitude ban sparks South American protests By Veronica Sardon
dpa German Press Agency
Buenos Aires- FIFA President Joseph Blatter knew that his
decision not to allow international games above 2,500 metres altitude
would have a deep impact on South American football.
"I know that this will not be well taken in South America," he
said Sunday, even as he announced the plan in Zurich.
By Monday, the matter had provoked presidential response across
Latin America, and the football associations of Bolivia, Peru and
most likely Colombia and Ecuador were taking steps to defend the
status quo.
Bolivian President Evo Morales held an emergency meeting of his
Cabinet, and called upon presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of
Brazil and Nestor Kirchner of Argentina to lobby for valuable
support at FIFA.
"This veto (of high-altitude venues) means discrimination and
marginalization in sports. With this decision, they are trying to
disintegrate sports and humanity," said Morales, who likes football a
lot and plays it on a regular basis himself.
High altitude has long been a much-needed, and often effective,
ally for lesser South American football teams against such powerful
rivals as Brazil and Argentina.
The likes of Ronaldinho and Riquelme lose their edge in La Paz or
Cusco, where oxygen is scarce, and their own coaches often chose to
field alternative teams in high altitude, favouring stamina over more
standard football talent.
However, doctors have long argued that it may not be quite healthy
to make players unaccustomed to such extreme conditions run after a
ball with only a couple of days' prior experience. And FIFA's Medical
Commission has now taken this argument on board.
With immediate effect, there will be no more official
international games in the Bolivian cities of Cochabamba (2,570
metres above sea level), Sucre (2,860 metres), La Paz (3,665 metres),
Oruro (3,966 metres) and Potosi (4,040 metres).
In Peru, Cusco (3,416 metres) will see no more top-level football
action, and neither will the Colombian capital Bogota (2,640 metres)
nor its Ecuadorian equivalent Quito (2,850 metres).
The decision will affect among others matches that qualify for the
World Cup, and also the prestigious Copa Libertadores, the top
regional tournament at the club level.
Peruvian officials have complained that FIFA's decision responds
to pressures from South American giants Brazil and Argentina, and
were preparing to challenge its enforcement and - if it comes to the
worst - to think of a second-best scenario.
"If decisions are final and there is no alternative we will play
in Arequipa," said Juvenal Silva, president of the Peruvian National
Teams' Commission, with reference to a city that is 2,300 metres
above sea level.
Silva himself had noted Sunday that medical arguments against
playing at high altitude have no substance, and Colombian national
coach Jorge Luis Pinto agreed.
"Physiologically we can prove to the whole world with 50 years of
football that nothing has ever happened, particularly now that there
are very advanced medical methods," Pinto said. "More people have
died at sea level than in high altitude."
However, Kleber Leite, a top official with Brazilian club
Flamengo, insisted Monday that FIFA's decision is a triumph "not for
football players, but a victory for human beings."
In some countries, moreover, the discussion has an internal angle.
In Peru, for example, most players in the national team play in teams
in the coastal Lima and do not like heading uphill for national games
either.
And Mexico - a regular guest at South American football
competitions and whose clubs also benefit from the 2,235 metres of
Mexico City - got away unscathed.
© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency