By Sportswriter Michael Place
RIO DE JANEIRO, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Italy and Bosnia-Herzegovina will not have to return to their World Cup bases before their final group matches after being granted an exemption by football's governing body FIFA.
Teams are normally required to stay at their bases between matches in the World Cup group phase.
But FIFA acceded to requests made by Italy and Bosnia-Herzegovina team officials due to Brazil's exceptional size, according to the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper.
Italy, who lost 1-0 to Costa Rica in the northeastern city of Recife on Friday, will now only need to travel 300km to Natal for their decisive clash against Uruguay on Tuesday.
The decision spared the Azzurri, whose base is in Mangaratiba, a 4,000km round trip in less than three days.
Bosnia-Herzegovina will also only return to their quarters in Guaruja following Wednesday's clash against Iran in Salvador.
On Saturday they were due to face Nigeria in the western city of Cuiaba.
FIFA says its rules regarding World Cup bases are in place to meet contractual obligations with cities, which invest in facilities for teams.
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