Fair Play: QCU's dilemma and a push for a Cebu turf


I SAW Cebu Queen City United president Stanley Villacin at the Cebu City Sports Center last Saturday and my first words to him were, "Oy, na-unsa naman inyong duwa sa UFL?"

 And oh, did he have a lot to say.

 However, he requested that those things be left off the record for now because a "he said vs. he said" exchange wouldn't solve this problem--Queen City's continued absence in the UFL Division 2.



And I think there is a simple solution to this, but coming up with one is very difficult.  This problem can be solved by the UFL go-to-guy sitting in with Queen City United officials so both parties can decide whether to grant Queen City's request.  Forget the numbers, calling each other won't solve the problem.  This has to be done face-to-face--whether here or in Manila--but whoever represents the UFL must be someone who can decide and speak for the UFL.

 Because the longer this impasse goes isn't fair to all parties.  It's not fair to the other Division 2 teams who'll be left wondering whether they'll have a game against Cebu.  And, as I told Stanley, it's not fair to Cebu Queen City United and Cebu football because right now, all the fans know is that Cebu isn't showing up for its matches.  That doesn't help the team, and Cebu football.

 Like I said, I hope the team and the UFL meet on this to fix this before next weekend's round of matches.

 By the way, I hope CCSC manager Ricky Ballesteros will reconsider his plan not to allow football festivals to be held at the CCSC because that would be a huge blow.  The CCSC is the perfect venue for festivals because of its size, location and facilities.  (By the way, a disclosure.  As one of the organizers of the Sun.Star Cebu Football Festival, we would benefit if Ricky reconsiders.)

 Besides, a football festival is less damaging to the field than the stage put up for the annual Sinulog festivals.  I think there  are ways to protect the field, and the oval, during festivals and these are being done for the Thirsty Cup. Barriers have been put up around the field, making it easy for them to prevent non-players from getting on the field. 

 And right now, the only big festival in Cebu is the Thirsty Cup, holding one every year at the CCSC won't be really that damaging.  The other festivals--San Roque, CIS and Consolacion all have their home fields.  Aside from the Thirsty Cup, the only other festival being planned at the CCSC is the Sun.Star Cup, which could be held late this year.  

 By the way, I also got to talk with Cebu Football Association’s Raffy Musni, who confirmed that the owners of the Aboitiz Sports Field are considering to rehab the place.  I really hope the Aboitizes consider putting up the first artificial turf outside of Manila, and if a school like De La Salle University can afford to put one, surely this is just but a drop in their bucket?  

 During a construction show last year, footballer/architect Eric Nacorda discovered that there’s already a local supplier for artificial turf in Cebu, ranging between P1,210 to P2,220 per square meter.

 According to the numbers Eric crunched, for 110 by 60-meter pitch, it's P18M for an artificial turf, another P2M for the gravel and sand base, P700T for the PVC backing.  Since this is maintenance-free and is ready to take the abuse and lasts longer, it’s cheaper in the long run.  

 Man, I can’t wait to walk on an artificial pitch in Cebu.

 (www.cebufootball.blogspot.com)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The failed U23 experiment

THE only positive thing that we can take in that loss against Timor Leste was that the U23 squad looked good in blue. And Ebong, too. The Blue-Haired fanatic whose voice we all heard on TV was fantastic. The team? The result? To be perfectly blunt it was a scrappy game from a scrappy team that seemed to treat the SEAG as a vacation, or a chance to gain more Twitter followers. (Yey, I can tweet the team apology first!) Going into the match, almost every fan who paid attention knew that we needed to win. Unfortunately, it seemed the players were operating on a different mindset.
Read more

Mother Nature plays spoilsport

The heavy rains spoiled the debut of defending champions Don Bosco College yesterday, cutting short the match between DBC A(?) and Bright. Hopefully, it will be a sunny Sunday. P.S. It will be interesting to note, how DBC divided its teams for the U12.
Read more

A Pinoy played for Real Madrid? (updated)

Image
HERE'S an interesting photo submitted by Asian Football Confederation women's committee member Cristina Ramos. Its taken at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium and shows a gallery of the great players who played for Real Madrid. And guess where one of them is from? Jaron Genota said the only information he has managed to gather is that the player's name is Teus. I hope to get more information on this guy in the next few months. Ms. Ramos, who was also in the organizing committee of the Fifa U17 and U20 women's world cup, said the picture was part of Real Madrid's exhibit on the universality of their players. From Ms. Ramos, "Mike, the photo of the Filipino player was part of the display entitled "The Universality of our Players" in the Real Madrid museum in Bernabeu. It's funny that they acknowledged him but did not name him. Only those from countries which participated in the World Cup were named."
Read more