Altitude sickness and air pollution are two problems American football stars could be faced with this (Monday) evening as Mexico prepares to stage an NFL game for the first time since 2005.
Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium will play host to the Oakland Raiders against the Houston Texans, and the venue’s location is expected to present an issue for players.
The stadium sits some 7,280 feet above sea level – 2,000 feet higher than the most-raised NFL stadium, the Denver Broncos’ Sports Authority Field at Mile High.
Mexico City is also notorious for its air pollution and earlier this year suffered its smoggiest period in over a decade.
Eric Wynalda, a former player for the US national soccer team, told the USA Today newspaper that the Azteca Stadium is “the worst place to ever play a sporting event.”
Wynalda, who played against Mexico at the Azteca Stadium on numerous occasions, added: “You can’t breathe. The pollution is so bad that if you don’t have some form of rain that’s brought all that down you are going to be sucking wind.
“They (will break) a record for how many oxygen masks they have on the sidelines. The combination of being that high up with pollution is just devastating to the body.”
The largest ever attendance at an NFL game was recorded at the Azteca Stadium in 1994, when the Dallas Cowboys took on the Houston Oilers.
Share this