Must Be The Coca On Their Jerseys?

by user Juanchogol

It seems as if Sepp Blatter is backpedaling a bit in his argument about high altitude. It must be the sea-level air of the Swiss Alps.

Now this veto that is to be implemented in venues that are 2,500 meters above sea level or higher will only be in place for qualifier matches. So apparently things in the Copa Libertadores will remain the same? Well in theory, yes.

Now there seems to be no logic behind this theory and this seems to be more of a political ploy that was not thought out well. FIFA were going to ban the Hernando Siles as well as the Estadio Atahualpa from having World Cup qualifiers, but yet they would allow Mexico to play in Toluca, a city 63km southwest of Mexico City. The altitude there is 2667m above sea-level. Last time I checked, 2667 was greater than 2500! So because of this, Mexico will still be allowed to play Copa Libertadores at the Nemesio Diez. Mexico City is 2240 m above sea level, but honestly what do a few hundred feet matter?

So if you play for your club, it is ok to play on Mount Everest I guess, as nothing will happen to the players. Now if you were to play for your national team in a venue like La Paz and Quito, you run the risk of dying. Last time I checked, there were more players dying in Brazil due to congestive heart failure and the like. I have never heard of players hallucinating and passing the ball to Ferenc Puskas (after he died) so he could put it in the net.

To me this sounds like a political move gone wrong and FIFA is in damage control mode. It is a ploy by other federations to go after the weaker brethren in order to flex their political muscle and further lock their supremacy in the football world. It is also a sign of fear as they have seen that their ventures into these arenas in recent years were no guarantee for three points. Where were these protests when they were winning pre-1994 when Ecuador and Bolivia were just teams that filled the qualifying groups in CONMEBOL?

So Mr. Blatter, if your ¨conscience¨ is being gnawed and you doing whatever is possible to improve the well-being of footballers why don´t you look at yourself. Because having some players play up to 80 games a year causes a greater risk of shortening careers or lives than playing a couple of matches in La Paz.