CSF call on FIFA gesture over World Cup altitude row

The Confederation of South American Football (CSF) have called on FIFA president Joseph Blatter to push back the ban on playing matches at altitude until after their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign, the Bolivian Football Federation revealed on Tuesday.

World football’s governing body FIFA have banned the South American team from staging qualifiers above 3,500m in La Paz but the Bolivians claim they are being discriminated against.

“It’s the first time that we have endured such a difficult situation. For this reason we’re calling on your understanding and ask you to make a gesture at this critical moment,” the CSF said in a letter to FIFA.

“We think that if we can finish these qualifiers like we want to (by playing the home matches in La Paz) we will be in a position to apply any directive on the subject in the future.”

FIFA has ordered the next batch of World Cup 2010 qualifying games against Chile and Paraguay in June to be moved away from La Paz claiming that matches at such altitude are detrimental to players’ health.

La Paz’s Hernando Siles stadium is at 3577m altitude.