Fair Play: After friendly, what's next for Cebu?

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's May 1 edition)
LOCAL organizers got an A-plus for the friendly between the Philippines and Malaysia last Sunday. Done on barely three weeks’ notice, everything but the condition of the pitch got praised.

 And the Cebu Football Association even had a surprise for the national team, handing out a P150,000 donation the officers received from fans for their “We Believe” campaign.


“It was a pleasant surprise. We are used to provincial FAs being on the receiving end and not on the giving end,” national team manager Dan Palami said.

 Late Monday night, Dan and I met again with Cedelf and a couple of other writers from Manila and among the topic discussed was the Peace Cup, that annual tournament first held in Manila and then stage in Bacolod last year.

 Joey Herrera, the gen-sec of the Cebu Football Association, was also there and he was telling us of how the stadium of the University of San Carlos is almost finished.

 Sensing an opportunity, Dan suggested, why not have the Peace Cup in Cebu?

 It was just a suggestion and the hesitation on Joey’s part was understandable—if hosting one friendly was tough, hosting a week-long tournament for four teams is tougher.

 But why not indeed?

 I was told, last year’s Peace Cup games got lukewarm reception from fans in Bacolod and last Sunday’s crowd—especially the kaholeros—was a welcome change.

 “I have to admit, Cebu is now the second home of the Azkals,” said Cedelf, who is from Bacolod.

 Of course, it goes without saying, that should the PFF decide to let Cebu host the tournament, it should give local hosts more than the three-weeks’ notice it gave for the Malaysia friendly.

 The tournament was held in October last year, and the next hosts should get at least a six-month notice, so they won’t be rushed and preparations would go smoothly.

 So, do you think Cebu can host the Peace Cup?

Comments

ceburoo said…
Sure Cebu can host the Peace Cup. Under the current CFA administration they have leapt any obstacle put in their path. Given the correct time frame to prepare the Peace Cup would be an outstanding
succeess. But when will the politicos of Cebu do something worthwhile re sports infrastructure in Cebu? Ensure a level playing field physically and metaphorically and watch spirtsctourism in Cebu prosper
8:16 AM
Unknown said…
Cebu can host the Peace Cup, if there is a good quality pitch. The FA must ensure a pitch that would not ruin the game when there's rainfall. As you can see, Visayas has become the new path for typhoon or LPA. remember, it's a week long tournament. No one can expect.
9:04 PM
Curious said…
@john: perhaps, very soon, there will be. I think its mentioned in Sir Limpag's article (or previous ones).
11:07 AM
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