The Hindu : Sport / Football : Blatter says he will waive La Paz ban

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Sunday, Jul 08, 2007
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Blatter says he will waive La Paz ban

GUATEMALA CITY: FIFA is backing down from its ban on international football matches in Bolivia’s capital of La Paz, the agency’s leader said on Friday.

FIFA President, Sepp Blatter, said he was responding to a request from Bolivian President, Evo Morales, who led a campaign to overturn a ban announced in May on international football matches at altitudes of over 2,500m.

“I had a good visit with Evo Morales — a good football player, I have to say — and he asked me for an exception for La Paz, and I can make that exception,” Blatter said here, where he is attending a session of the International Olympic Committee.

“Now it’s up to the National teams,” he added, indicating that other South American Nations would have to approve the waiver for La Paz, which sits 3,600m above sea-level.

FIFA’s original announcement of the ban enraged Bolivia because it would have ruled out international competition in most of its major stadiums, as well as in the capitals of Colombia and Ecuador.

After Andean Nations complained, a 15-member medical panel of CONMEBOL convened and issued a finding that there were “no major problems” with playing at altitude.

With Morales leading the campaign, including playing a brief match at 6,000m on Bolivia’s highest peak, CONMEBOL formally asked FIFA to rescind the ban. — AP

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