Azkals' two home games give football fed large war chest

By FRANCIS SANTIAGO

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine football team co-captain Chieffy Caligdong plans to bring his family to Boracay for a vacation before the end of the month while his cousin, striker Ian Araneta plans to save for his son’s schooling once they receive their bonuses from the Philippine Football Federation.

Reporting from Kuala Lumpur, PFF chief Mariano ‘‘Nonong’’ Araneta Jr. said all members of the Azkals will be rewarded with a $1,500 (roughly P64,000) bonus aside from their usual allowance for their hard work in their two-round stints in the qualifier for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.


The amount won’t be too hard to shell out for the PFF, which reported a net earning of at least P23.4 million from the Azkals’ home-and-away World Cup qualifying matches against Sri Lanka and Kuwait.

As the Azkals’ popularity continues to grow, so is the PFF’s treasure chest.


From the two Azkals' home games at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium, the PFF earned P22 million from gate receipts. An earning of P1.4 million will come from ABS-CBN, the PFF’s broadcast partner although the amount is expected to rise once the PFF’s share from advertisements is added.

Under the broadcast deal between the PFF and the TV station, the PFF will get P500,000 for the Azkals' games played against international teams abroad while P200,000 for the games played on local soil.

Araneta said they are happy they were able to recoup the budget they spent for the preparation for the World Cup qualifiers – from the P9 million they coughed up for renovation of the Rizal to the team's expensive two-week training camp in Germany.


“We’d like to thank the fans for their continuous support. Supporting the Azkals will mean supporting the growth of sport in the country. Whatever we earn from these will go to our grassroots development programs, coaches’ training and a lot more,” Araneta said.

“As a sports organization, we’re happy we are able to somehow stand on our own and generate income to sustain our programs through the Azkals.”

Manila Bulletin