I wonder why the Philippine Football Federation is charging P200 for a bleacher seat for the coming Philippines-Sri Lanka World Cup qualifier on July 3 at the renovated Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Given that more than 11 million Filipinos are jobless, with many more going hungry, isn’t the PFF making it too hard on the ordinary Pinoy to appreciate the sport? The price for a bleacher seat, to my mind, is not within the reach of the common tao?
Instead of gaining more followers, the PFF might drive away new football adherents and alienate the few remaining believers in the game.
Composed of young and fiercely determined (and not bad-looking) shin-busters, the Azkals started to make an unexpected impact on the Philippine sporting scene last year by posting a string of stirring triumphs here and abroad.
“I’m happy with the way the team is making progress,” said the Azkals’ German coach Hans Michael Weiss.
Making up the team are skipper Aly Borromeo, brothers James and Phil Younghusband, goalie Neil Etheridge, Ian Araneta, Simon Greatwich, Rob Gier, Angel Guirado, Jerry Lucena, Ray Jonsson, Anton del Rosario and Chieffy Caligdong.
PSA awardee and team manager Dan Palami said additions to the squad could include Leigh Gunn, Filipino-Americans Nate Burkey and James Rochlitz and Fil-Iranian Misagh Bahadoran.
Bonnie Librado, PFF treasurer and chair of the PH-Sri Lanka match, said the stiff ticket prices would help augment the cost of refurbishing the Rizal Memorial Stadium, noting that the association needs at least P6 million for the renovation.
He said 8,000 tickets will be sold at P200 each, 4,950 tickets will be pegged at P300, the P2,000 tickets will be for the upper level grandstand seats, while the P3,000 tickets will be for the lower level main grandstand seats. Tickets will go on sale beginning June 3.
I think the PFF can help alleviate the ordinary people’s dilemma by distributing a portion of the tickets (at least for the bleacher section) for free through a lottery. Even though this is an unsolicited advice, it is something worth trying.
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Here’s wishing my longtime friend, Undersecretary Narciso Santiago Jr., and his wife, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, the very best on their 40th year of blissful marriage. And to mark this momentous occasion, the well-loved couple will renew marriage vows at the Manila Cathedral on June 19, with Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales officiating at about 6 p.m. President Aquino leads a star-studded cast of guests from the government, private and business, including two former Philippine presidents, a former first lady, a vice president and a chief justice.
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Being a cockfight enthusiast, my attention was caught recently by the closure of a cockpit arena on Mascardo Street in Barangay Singkamas after the Makati City government discovered it was operating illegally.
Could the cockpit in question be the popular Makati Coliseum?
Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay Jr. ordered the closure of the cockpit upon the recommendation of the city’s business permits office which found out that the cockpit arena, owned and managed by WTJ Sports and Amusement Corp., did not have a permit from city hall.
The mayor also gathered that cockpit employees did not have working permits.