CCSC is football-ready

By Cheska D. Geli

Tuesday, September 4, 2012
CEBU City Sports Center has the basic structure that can be an effective foundation for a football stadium that can host international games.
This was affirmed by Philippine Football representative David Gua, who was sent by PFF president Nonong Araneta to inspect the condition of football fields in Cebu, especially the CCSC field, which is set to host an international friendly between the Philippine Men’s Football Team and Singapore this November.

Gua, in his one-day visit, went to inspect Aboitiz Field, Sacred Heart-Ateneo de Cebu, University of San Carlos and Cebu City Sports Center.
“I’d like to clear that this is not only for the Challenge Cup hosting, but is about whether Cebu has fields that can host fundamentals of FIFA-level competitions,” said Gua.
Competent
From the fields he visited, he found the newly-renovated CCSC field stands with good
basic structure that can competently hold a number of people.
“If they can accommodate 50,000 for the Sinulog, what’s 15,000 for Challege Cup,” said
Gua.
He mentioned that the key elements in hosting an international game include two football stadiums and an international airport, which Cebu has.
International football competitions call for simultaneous matches and aside from the CCSC field, USC has a good chance to be an option if it will be finished within a projected time.
As with the Aboitiz field, he said it cannot be used for a closed training session, while Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu has nice soil, but it needs weeding and flattening.
It is up to the PFF to discuss the improvements needed, but he mentioned that to attract the crowd for international tournaments there should be good lights, too.
Improvements
Gua said the pitch needs basic improvement, but it is already good enough. It needs brand-new goals and back-up goals. As to the size, the field only needs minor adjustments to comply with international standards.
“Because Manila is getting tight, PFF is looking at provinces in Visayas and Mindanao because football is for everybody,” he said.
He emphasized that Asian Football Federation and Asian Football Cup are also looking at new football venues to give players options from the usual areas in Myanmar and Bangkok.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on September 05, 2012.