Let me take this argument a little further with another hypothetical example from football. Assume the Football League allowed clubs to play on either natural or synthetic surfaces. There seems to be a strong case to say that it would not and that the football authorities should logically prescribe the same surface for all clubs. This view has been explicated forcefully by the philosopher Paul Weiss. Replace the word 'race' by 'games' and it seems logical that such a 'standard situation' should also apply in football.
Standard situations are almost synonymous with the word 'placelessness'.
A crucial characteristic of modern sport which distinguishes it from both its folk-game antecedents and recreation is its achievement orientation and its associated seeking after records. For records and 'progress' and to be meaningful, each space where a performance may be achieved should be the same - exactly the same or measurement of such progress would be impossible. The 'production' of a record requires placelessness. Here is the sporting analogue of the isotropic plane - the rational solution to the problems of variety and individuality imposed by place. They must be the same on every football field in the world.