LIMA, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Five South American nations who met on Wednesday in Bolivia, expressed their opposition to an International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) ruling banning international matches in venues above 2,500 meters above sea level.

    According to news reaching here, state sporting authorities from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela attended the meeting; and municipal authorities from Chile attended the meeting, known as the Unity for the Universality of Sport Summit.

    Representatives were united in their rejection of the altitude ban and voted for a resolution saying that soccer "should be played where it is born and lived".

    Doctors and scientists showed proofs that no one had died from sport at high altitudes.

    Evo Morales, Bolivia's president, opened the summit by thanking the Organization of American States for passing a measure rejecting the ban on Tuesday.

    "People have the right to play football where they are born, live and reproduce, without any type of discrimination or exclusion base on geography, ethnicity, culture, language, financial status or anything else," Morales said.

    The FIFA decision affects cities including Ecuadorian capital Quito, Colombian capital Bogota, southern Peru city Cusco, and central Mexican city Toluca. Four of Bolivia's major cities -- La Paz, Cochabamba, Oruro and Potosi -- are above the 2,500 meters and are excluded by the ban.