2 Miles High - Cienciano de Cuzco

Up where the llamas roam like taxis on Park Avenue, there brews a potent controversy. And like the famous coca leaf tea (required consumption in the fight against altitude sickness), it packs a strong kick. At almost 11,000 feet above sea level, Cuzco, Peru must make Denver seem swampy in comparison. Cuzco is the home of the great little Peruvian soccer club: Cienciano FC.

Cienciano FC won their fame not in the icy, cannibalistic aftermath of some Andean plane crash, but rather on the field at Lockhart Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. (This writer got to see Pearl Jam there back in 1996 under threat of Tropical Storm with Soccer-Point invited blogger Eugene - Euge!) Cienciano FC beat Argentina's powerful Boca Juniors soccer club there in the 2004 Recopa Sudamericana. A similar victory for American sports lovers to better understand the upset would be if Rice University beat UT in football.



The athletes who train at 2 miles high have a clear advantage over their puny-chested lowland counterparts. So FIFA has ruled that no international games can be played over a mile and a half above sea level (2,500 meters). Sepp Blatter (an Alpine Swiss no less!) handed down the decision earlier this year.

From Wikipedia: "In 2007, Blatter decided that no football matches will be played above 2999 metres (9839 feet) above sea level. This arbitrary number was revised to 3000 meters on June 26, 2007. This may have been aimed to split the opposition group formed by Colombia, Ecuador (who play at altitudes below 3000 meters but above 2500) Bolivia and Peru (with stadia above 3000 meters). This has dramatic consequences for the Bolivian national team, whose stadium is located more than 3000 metres above sea level. Blatter commented that football matches at extreme altitudes belong to the past, and that they are risky for player's health. However, no comprehensive medical studies have been shown to prove this. The andean nations retort saying that playing in hot, humid, sea level temperature is in fact more dangerous, citing the death of Marc Vivien Foe as an example."

It's hard to imagine losing the possibility of hosting international matches. But my cousin contracted a mean case of altitude sickness in Cuzco last year. She had a miserable time of it. (Mind you, she wasn't preparing for a soccer game either...) So, given the pressures of participation in international team play, it's easy to understand the sober meaning behind this decision. The Swollen Ones of Cuzco will have to make do in lower lying areas to prove themselves for now. It's just sad to see the passion for soccer in the community of Cuzco be pushed aside so swiftly by FIFA.