Peru's football stadium is highest above sea level, putting players at risk | Soccer

Football is certainly not for the faint-hearted, especially when it comes to playing at high altitudes.

A sports stadium that strikes fear in any seasoned professional player is Peru’s Daniel Alcides Carrion Stadium.

The ground is the highest football stadium in the world.

It is located at an altitude of 4,378 m above sea level, which significantly increases the risk of serious health problems for anyone who plays sports there.

Playing any type of sport at such a high altitude puts players at risk for increased heart rate, high blood pressure and hypoxia, among other things.

The Daniel Alcides Carrion Stadium is located in the Peruvian town of Cerro del Pasco and is officially the tallest stadium in the world.

It seats around 8,000 people and has caused much controversy in the past among players who are not used to playing at such high heights.

Oxygen problems are commonplace and are starting to decrease, lower than many football players would have ever faced before.

This breathtaking height means fatigue sets in much more quickly as players struggle to breathe.

As such, the stadium only hosts Peru Cup matches at international level a few times a year, but is owned by a Peruvian league team known as Union Minas.

Union Minas belongs to the third division of the league and is known for having one of the toughest away days in the world.

At 4,378 m above sea level, it is so high that it would take more than 14 fragments stacked on top of each other to reach the same height.

The highest altitude above sea level is Mount Everest, at 8,848m, only twice that of the Daniel Alcides Carrion Stadium, further highlighting how dangerous it can be for players.

As such, FIFA banned matches in stadiums above 2,500m above sea level in 2007, which caused major controversy.

FIFA explained that the reason for the ban was due to home teams having an “unfair advantage” and concerns regarding player safety.

Countries like Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia railed against the decision because it meant they could not host World Cup qualifiers in their own capitals.

Football icon Diego Maradona felt this ban so much that he chose to play a match at the Hernando Siles stadium in La Paz.

He wanted to prove that if a 47-year-old player was able to play for over an hour at such high altitudes, it was certainly possible for young professionals to do so as well.

The high altitude ban was later revoked in 2008, with FIFA allowing teams to play on their preferred pitches.

The ban on high-altitude pitches was later revoked in May 2008, and FIFA has since allowed teams to return to their preferred playing field.

Interestingly, a study published in the National Library of Medicine found that teams that trained and played at high altitudes had a 28 percent reduced concussion rate.

It concluded that playing at higher altitudes may have a protective effect on concussion rates.

Despite the decrease in concussion rates at higher altitudes, the lack of oxygen was certainly evident when Argentina’s World Cup team was seen using oxygen tubes during the match against Bolivia .

Alongside Argentina, Brazilian footballers have also been seen using huge oxygen tanks during their international matches in South America.