PFF earns P11M at gates

By FRANCIS SANTIAGO
July 5, 2011, 10:52pm
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine football team-Sri Lanka World Cup qualifying match at the Rizal Memorial Football stadium last Sunday was a big hit – both from the gates and TV ratings.

Goals from ace striker Phil Younghusband, Fil-Spanish Angel Guirado and Chieffy Caligdong powered the Azkals to a 4-0 victory against Sri Lanka and a 5-1 aggregate win in the first round of the qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Despite the heavy downpour during the match, the Philippine Football Federation announced net earnings of P11 million from gate receipts while ABS-CBN, which broadcasted the game live over Studio 23, said it “rated very well.”

The victory ensured the Philippines a date against a much tougher Kuwait side, a Middle East power, in the second round which begins July 23.

“We were able to do justice to the stadium. We fixed the stadium and Azkals performed well and everything went well for the football in the country,” PFF president Mariano “Nonong” Araneta said.

“We spent almost close to P9 million. It’s good to say that from the gate receipts alone we were able to recover the expenses. I think after deducting all the commissions of Ticketworld maybe it was about 11 million.”

The game saw 13,000 roaring fans at the stands – a testament to the Azkals drawing power.

“You have seen the crowd, you can see that even if it was raining so hard they were still there watching the game. And they enjoyed it,” Araneta said.

An ABS-CBN official, who requested not to be named, said the “game went very well for a sports program.” The official refused to release any rating figures as he has no authority to do it.

Team manager Dan Palami wasn’t able to attend Tuesday’s PSA Forum after he figured in a minor car accident along España in Manila. Football officials said Palami was unhurt.

The Azkals, meanwhile, will miss midfielders Aly Borromeo and Fil-German Stephan Schrock when they play Kuwait following their automatic suspensions after getting their second yellow card during Sunday’s game.

Borromeo and Schrock, however, will be available for the Manila leg on July 28.

Manila Bulletin