Football field renovation on hold

THE MOVE to turn the historic Rizal Memorial Football Stadium field into an all-weather artificial pitch is on hold.

The Philippine Sports Commission and Philippine Football Federation had signed a memorandum of agreement last month for the implementation of the project, but the thorny issue of who gets to control and manage the field is now being blamed as the reason for the impasse.

Philippine Sports Commission chair Richie Garcia yesterday said the government sports agency can’t relinquish control of the stadium as it remains public property.

The control and management of the facility, however, are among the provisions of the International Football Federation (Fifa) in granting the PFF’s proposal for Fifa Goal Project, which is worth $500,000.

“We cannot agree to the contract because Rizal Memorial is a public place and it is government property,” Garcia told the Inquirer. “We cannot just relinquish control (of the facility).”

The MOA signed by the PSC and the PFF, which would cover the next 25 years, actually included a profit-sharing scheme.
The PFF will get 60 percent and the PSC 40 percent from the gate receipts of all of the federation’s events held at the facility such as official matches and tuneup games of the national teams.