Soccer Fans Outraged at Ban Affecting High-Altitude Stadiums

For most Americans, soccer is that game that forces parents to alter their weekend plans to schlep children, pairs of beat-up cleats and bags of soccer balls from field to muddy field.

But for many of the estimated 110,000 South Americans living in the Washington area, soccer is far more than a game. Fans follow its every move with practically religious zeal.

So when the sport's governing body decided in May to ban international matches played at stadiums at high altitudes, many die-hard fans were aghast at losing the universal right to play soccer wherever they wanted.

The International Federation of Association Football, known as FIFA and which organizes such major tournaments as the World Cup, said it enacted the ban to protect players' health and eliminate any disadvantages for those unaccustomed to high altitudes -- by no means a new complaint. Overnight, that meant Cuzco in Peru and the Bolivian capital La Paz -- two cities that practically shut down when the soccer stadium lights go on -- were essentially left out of the soccer world.

"It was a bucket of cold water," Felix Sandoval, president of the Arlington Bolivian Soccer League, said in Spanish. He relishes watching games played by his countrymen on TV with friends. "Since the first moment that we learned about the FIFA's abrupt veto . . . there was total resentment."

Sandoval voiced his anger at one of the local league's weekly meetings and soon learned he was not the only one upset. What unfolded over the next few weeks was a coordinated attempt to demonstrate local fans' outrage at FIFA's decision.

A group of area Bolivian journalists began collecting thousands of signatures. By mid-June, consuls from South and Central American nations organized a soccer game to show their opposition for the cause and solidarity for the affected teams. Sandoval appeared on local Bolivian talk-radio shows that were abuzz with the news.

"It's not our fault we were born in a high-altitude country," said Jorge Careaga, who fielded calls from enraged fans when the news broke and hosted enthusiasts, including Sandoval, on his sports show. "The right to soccer is universal."

Now opponents hope that continual lobbying will push the federation to overturn the ban.

With its initial decision in May to ban international matches at stadiums more than 2,500 meters above sea level, the Zurich-based FIFA drew the ire of Latin American soccer fans here and abroad. Stadiums in Bolivia, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador, among others, were among the best known to be affected by the ruling. In Washington, dozens upon dozens of e-mails poured into consulates.

"I join in the rejection" of the ban, Manuel Talavera, deputy chief of mission at the Peruvian Embassy, said in Spanish. "Cuzco is a city where one of the world's largest empires unfolded. . . . Human development [in high altitudes] is super-proven."

Talavera said a slim majority of Peruvians in the Washington area live in Virginia, particularly Fairfax.

Bolivians, who are spread throughout the metropolitan area, had the most to lose. The capital of their native country, La Paz, was prevented from hosting international games. At 3,600 meters above sea level, it was the scene for many of the country's major games, and the exclusion felt nearly sacrilegious to Sandoval.

"It's unconceivable," he said. "It's like taking away the Bolivian public's daily bread."

Complaints about the disadvantages of high altitudes aren't new. Even Sandoval said he needed time to acclimate to the change when he traveled from low-lying Cochabamba to La Paz when he played professionally. But the very charm of soccer lies in the ability to play it anywhere at a cheap cost.

"Soccer is for everyone," Talavera said. "Its richness is that it is played in heat, in cold, up high, down low."

There is fear, too, that the Bolivian economy would be affected if the ban were allowed to continue. There is a risk that tourists or investors might be discouraged from exploring a city left out of one of the continent's most important recreational activities.

"It's condemning a country to keep levels of marginality," said Oswaldo Cuevas Gaete, general consul of Bolivia. "It stigmatizes a country as unfit for life -- because soccer is life. . . . This goes beyond soccer."

Bolivian Ambassador Mario Gustavo Guzmán Saldaña said the Bolivian government is continually pushing for the FIFA to overturn the ban. Their president has visited with the head of FIFA and even played a match at 6,000 meters above sea level. Sandoval is also hopeful.

"Internally, we will feel peace that our voices were heard," he said. "The greatest celebration will be the internal peace of knowing that they're giving us back our liberty."

The group has softened its position. In June, FIFA bowed to the growing pressure and loosened the restriction to 3,000 meters. Only a secondary stadium in Cuzco, the Garcilaso de la Vega, and Herando Siles in La Paz remained banned.

On July 14, the federation amended the ban again, ruling that La Paz could host matches leading up to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and recommending that the city build a lower-lying stadium.

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.