The ruling particularly affected national teams such as Bolivia, Ecuador, and Colombia, as it prevented them from hosting FIFA World Cup qualification matches in their respective capital cities.
[2] The controversy originated from complaints lodged by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), which argued that playing at high altitudes posed significant health risks to players not acclimatized to such conditions.
[4] The adverse conditions, compounded by inclement weather, led Flamengo and other Brazilian clubs to threaten boycotts of matches at high-altitude venues, which pressured FIFA to enact a ban.
South American football associations, excluding Brazil, collectively agreed to disregard the ban, committing to play matches in the stadiums chosen by the host nations irrespective of altitude.
Despite occasional discussions, including statements by Blatter in 2010 suggesting the altitude issue was “not on FIFA’s agenda,”[11]the ban has not been reinstated, which allow nations with high-altitude venues to continue hosting international matches.