By FRANCIS SANTIAGO
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) warned on Wednesday the public from swindlers selling tickets and package tour for the much-anticipated AFC Challenge Cup match between the Philippine Azkals and Mongolia on February 9.
The showdown set at the 15,000-seater Panaad Stadium in Bacolod City should be free to the public, but PFF chief Mariano Araneta said he had received reports that tricksters are out selling tickets at an undisclosed price and package tour that include tickets, airfare from Manila to Bacolod and hotel accommodation.
“We would like to reiterate that the game will be free to the public,” Araneta said on Wednesday.
The match is the first leg of the qualifier with the second meeting set March 15 at the National Stadium in Ulan Bator in Mongolia.
The Philippines had earlier proposed to host the Mongolia’s home game, but was rejected.
The winner of the PH-Mongolia series will complete the group that includes host Bangladesh, Palestine and Myanmar. The group stage starts March 20.
Source : Manila Bulletin
According to world rankings, the Azkals should prove to be a real powerhouse in the group stage if only those 3 will be in our group - Bangladesh and Palestine are ranked 160+ while we're about the same as Myanmar.
ReplyDeleteAfter looking at Wikipedia, I also realise that we're really lucky because we'll not be grouped with powerhouses like North Korea, India, and Turkmenistan. We might just end up at the top of our group!
Let's hope that the assistance from the various countries will add to the advantage.
Free entry on a first-come-first-served basis to the Azkals next game is a virtual guarantee that FIFA will never again allow a home game to be played in the Philippines. Have the PFF and the governor of Negros Occidental any idea what football fever can do to a crowd? This has got to be a ticket-only match with half the Philippine Army cordoning off the stadium, otherwise this will start with - never mind end in - disaster.
ReplyDeleteCinema-size TV with live feed from the game
must be set up on the nearest safe open ground outside plus another one in Bacolod city centre.
Failure to do this will result in crowd chaos and the strangling of Philippine football at its rebirth.
I made the same observation in the article Free Ticket to Panaad below and someone from the PFF answered that they were going to coordinate the security issue with the local govt.
ReplyDeleteI have also brought the issue up on bleachers brew so hopefully they are aware of the danger.
Perhaps what they should do is to give away free tickets in advance so they don't have to fight over free seats when the game comes.
ReplyDelete