LOS BANOS, LAGUNA—The Philippine Football Federation is considering the historical Rizal Memorial Track and Football Stadium as one of the venues for the home games of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers starting in June said PFF president Mariano “Nonong” Araneta Wednesday.
With the first and second round of qualifiers for the World Cup played with a home-and-away format, the PFF started looking for other options aside from the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod.
“We will try to look at Rizal Memorial (today) and see how we can fix it,” said Araneta in the PFF Suzuki U-23 national championships in UP Los Banos in Laguna.
Rizal Memorial Stadium, with a capacity of 30, 000, was once home of the national football team and used to host major football matches since its creation in the 1930s.
But its rapid dilapidation throughout the years made it unfit for international standards, and eventually the national team, now widely known as the Azkals, had the constant problem with its practice and game venues.
In the first leg of the AFC Challenge Cup pre-qualifying against Mongolia last February, the Azkals played their first ever home game since their amazing run in the AFF Suzuki Cup in Bacolod's Panaad Stadium.
The stadium, with a standing capacity of 20,000, was brimming from the VIP area up to the bleachers by fans from around the Philippines who trooped there just to watch the Azkals.
The team before, though, had problems with the lack of stadium of top standard during the Suzuki Cup late last year and had to play both legs of the semifinals, which they eventually lost, in Bung Karno stadium in Indonesia.
But Araneta expressed said the PFF and the Azkals will not encounter the same difficulty because the AFC, the main governing body of football in Asia, does not have the same requirements like that of the AFF.
“Actually, the capacity only will be considered if the home country wants more gate receipts,” said Araneta. “The home game is actually to help the host country.”
The quality of the pitch, the lighting, air-conditioned dressing rooms, security within the area, and media rooms, though, are among AFC’s top concerns, according to Araneta.
“If it’s televised and the field is up to international standards then the game will be better,” Araneta added.
Whether Rizal Memorial will live up to these requirements, the PFF will only find out after its ocular inspection of the field today.
The Azkals, drawn against Sri Lanka in the first round of the qualifiers, will play the first leg in the opponents turf in June 29 before shifting back to the Philippines on July 3.
Cedelf Tupas, Inquirer.net
