No free tickets in Azkals home match vs Sri Lanka

MANILA, Philippines - Bad news for Azkals fans: there will be no free tickets in the Philippine football team's home match against Sri Lanka for the FIFA World Cup 2014 first round qualifiers.

The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) made the announcement on the ASEAN Football Federation's official website on Sunday, saying that it will have to raise funds to cover for the expenses of hosting the event on July 3.

"What is certain is that there won't be any free seating for the public," said PFF president Mariano Araneta, adding, "We don't know if we can get any subsidy from FIFA for the hosting and we have to rent for the said field and shoulder other expenses."

The PFF is considering 2 venues for the home game -- the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila and the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod. It has until April 15 to decide.

Araneta, Azkals team manager Dan Palami and coach Hans Michael Weiss made an ocular inspection of the 77-year-old Rizal Stadium last week. Except for some minor ground repairs, the 3 didn't see any major problems with the venue.

"We might just play there at around 4 p.m., so the lights would not have to be installed," Araneta said.

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