AP News, July 6th, 2007
FIFA is backing down from its ban on international soccer matches in Bolivia's capital of La Paz.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter said Friday he was responding to a request from Bolivian President Evo Morales, who led a campaign to overturn a ban announced in May on international soccer matches at altitudes of over 8,200 feet.
"I had a good visit with Evo Morales _ a good soccer player, I have to say _ and he asked me for an exception for La Paz, and I can make that exception," Blatter said in Guatemala City, 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 11,800 feet above sea level.
FIFA's original announcement of the ban enraged Bolivia because it would have ruled out international competition in most of the nation's major stadiums, as well as in the capitals of Colombia and Ecuador.
After Andean nations complained, a 15-member medical panel of South American soccer officials 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 19,700 feet on Bolivia's highest peak, South American soccer officials formally asked FIFA to rescind the ban.
Last month, FIFA eased the restriction to World Cup qualifiers above 9,840 feet.
Blatter termed his new move "a political decision" and added, "I am going to get into a dispute with FIFA's medical service."
