MANILA, Philippines — Citing the lack of bigger and better facilities for the training of Azkals, lawmakers have pushed for the allocation of P300 million for construction of a world- class football stadium in the country.
Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez and Abante Mindanao Rep. Maximo Rodriguez filed House Bill 4298, seeking the creation of a football stadium with a seating capacity of 75,000.
“It is high time that we bring back the glory days of football in the Philippines like in the ‘70s and ‘80s when the Philippine football team was among the strongest in Asia and while the country is admittedly still basketball-crazy, we need to face the facts that we have better opportunities in football, considering that Filipino football players have the skills and talent at par and even better than players from neighboring countries,” Rodriguezes said in filing the bill recently.
The brother lawmakers said the government should give the Philippine football team “a home” where they can practice and host international tournaments.
Currently, there are five football stadiums all over the country, biggest of which is the 20,000-capacity Panadium Stadium in Bacolod City where the recent Azkals versus Mongolia match was held.
“However, the Federation of football of ASEAN (AFF) deemed that the Azkals’ home field in Panaad, Bacolod, is not up to the federation’s requirements. As such, the Azkals were forced to play in Indonesia against Indonesia in front of over 80,000 Indonesians in what was supposed to be a home game for the Azkals,” they lamented.
The Azkals lost to Indonesia and failed to advance to the championship round. “While there is no guarantee that the Azkals would have won had they played in the Philippines, Home- field advantage would have definitely helped as thousands of Filipinos would be behind players cheering them on instead of thousands of Indonesians jeering at them,” the lawmakers said.
They lamented that the Philippines’ football facilities are lagging behind compared to those in neighboring Asian countries, including Indonesia, Vietnam, Brunei, Singapore, Cambodia, and Myanmar
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