Bolivia President Evo Morales to Play Soccer Match at 21,463 Feet

The FIFA ban on high altitude matches is ridiculous, and what is surprising is that the “great” Pele supports it. Great athletes don’t whine about conditions, they rise to the occasion and play through them. However, when one thinks about his remarks, they may not be that uncharacteristic, coming from a man who will not give credit to Maradonna for being comparable to himself.

Posted from  United States

I live at sea level and regularly trained at 3,800 meters every summer (for Glacier training for ski racing).

It is good for you, if you are fit, and you can acclimatise quickly.

It is a lot better than playing in 40 degree heat with high humidity. There is a better case for banning football Brazil which is unthinkable.

However, if the world cup was held at Christmas in cold countries then we would have seen a different set of counties dominate.

The only reason for this decision is that the Andies football teams have improved and can now beat Brazil and Argentina at home.

Croatia can beat anyone at home and no one is suggesting that they should be banned from playing at home. (La Paz 8 million might have more inhabitants than the whole of Croatia)

The small countries have got a lot better, and the big ones need to up their game rather than blaming the conditions.

We have to play the world cup each summer in Brazil (hot humid) conditions

Posted from  United Kingdom

Just want to pass along a letter mailed last week to Bolivia’s president, Evo Morales, by my colleague Gustavo Zubieta of the Institute of High Altitude Pathology in La Paz, in reference to the recent FIFA effort to ban high altitude soccer games.

Dr. Zubieta, one of the world’s leading authorities on high altitude physiology, is presently at the University of Copenhagen. The letter is also signed by Prof. Jens Bangsbo, an international authority on soccer physiology.

The letter specifically notes that “based on extensive knowledge over many years of work in research on exercise, pressure changes, environmental changes and different conditions that the human body can tolerate during the practice of sports”, that “the world games of soccer can and should be played in the high altitude cities of La Paz.”

You can download a copy of the complete letter (PDF) here:

http://www.altitudeclinic.com/images/Bolivian%20President.pdf

Clinica IPPA has an item on this topic on their blog:

http://zubietas.blogspot.com/

Best regards,

Michael Moretti
La Paz, Bolivia

Posted from  Bolivia