Living in Peru : your everyday companion

(LIP-jl) -- According to the President of the Peruvian Sports Institute (Instituto Peruano del Deporte -IPD), Arturo Woodman, Peru's future plan to play selected World Cup qualifying matches at altitudes higher than 2,500 meters (8,202 feet) pushed FIFA officials to impose an altitude limit.

In the wake of last Sunday's decision made by FIFA's executive committee, Arturo Woodman, President of Peru's IPD, believes that Peru's plan to play its most important matches (believed to include South American powerhouses Brazil and Argentina) in Cuzco's Garcilaso de la Vega Stadium, located at an altitude above 3,600 meters (11,811) pushed FIFA to take action.

"I believe FIFA analyzed Peru's plans to play in Cuzco and that most likely led to the ban," said Woodman, who reemphasized that the measure is completely unfair.

Woodman added that under FIFA's criteria for the ban, which stated playing in high altitudes poses a serious health risks to players, stadiums which are located in extremely hot regions should also be banned since they can also be hazardous to players as well.

Peru's top sports authority also qualified Bolivian President Evo Morales' critique of FIFA's decision as 'inappropriate.'

"This is not a political issue. I hope the controversy remains in the sporting arena and doesn't cross over into politics," he concluded.

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