Overview of Land and History 17the rematch. Subsequent Brazilian teams have altered their
highland style of play, withdrawing defensively to minimise
their huffi ng and puffi ng, depending instead on lightning
counterattacks, a strategy that has proven optimal.
The World Football Federation issues periodic proclamations,
based on medical studies, that football anywhere above 2,500
m (8,200 ft) gives an unfair advantage to the home team. Had
this become the law of football, not only would La Paz have
been excluded from world competition, but also Cochabamba,
at 2,570 m (8,431 ft), and Sucre, at 2,790 m (9,153 ft). The
football barons thought they were being nice guys when their
ban against high- altitude international competition was ‘lifted’
to anywhere above 3,000 m (9,900 ft).
The only populous city in the world affected by the ban
was La Paz. Bolivians were up in arms. One columnist claimed
that geographic discrimination was even worse than racism.
Bolivian football offi cials argued that if La Paz were to be
banned, then cities with perilous pollution such as Mexico
City or Athens, or those with unbearable heat (most places
in the United States in August) should also be banned.