Palami, coach Hans Michael Weiss and Philippine Football Federation president Mariano Araneta Jr. toured the pre-World War II facility yesterday to determine if it could meet FIFA and AFC standards.

The last time the Rizal Memorial football field was used for international play was during the 1991 Manila Southeast Asian Games.

"Some of the seats in the main grandstand may need repairs since their support underneath is corroded, and we do not want to have any accidents," Palami said. "This infrastructure has to be fixed."

He also noted the cramped locker rooms with low ceilings at the stadium "where our tall players like Phil and James Younghusband and Angel Guirado might have to crouch all the time."

The Younghusbands and Guirado are well over six feet while the dugouts are good only for players who stand below 5-foot-9, an old football hand who inspected them a month ago told Malaya/Business Insight.

Palami suggested that air-conditioned tents could be set up temporarily to address the problem of locker rooms and the media room for post-match interviews.

"I have seen this done in international tournaments where our team has competed in so I believe we can do the same thing here," he said.

Palami also pointed out that while the pitch looked even "we looked at its condition closely and found some holes in the field. They have to be filled up because they could pose problems to players."

Weiss, for his part, said: "It looks normal, neither good nor bad, just okay."

Should the lights be insufficient, Palami said the match could be held in the late afternoon "and this is also allowed."

Palami said while he was not ruling out the Panaad Sports Complex as an alternative venue "the accessibility of Manila from Sri Lanka is a major consideration."

He pointed out the hosts have to shoulder local travel costs "and it would be less expensive for us to make these improvised remedies rather than shoulder the opposing team’s air fare to Bacolod."