30 April 2013

Cebu gets Asian Football Confederation’s nod


Wednesday, May 1, 2013
THE Cebu Football Association (CFA) finally received the blessings of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Committee in the country’s debut hosting of an international inter-club tournament in Cebu City next week.
AFC representatives came here last week to check on the preparations and were impressed with how the CFA is handling everything.
The 2013 AFC President’s Cup Group B will be held at the Cebu City Sports Center on May 8, 10 and 12 with clubs Dordoi FC of Kyrgyzstan, Yeedzin of Bhutan, KRL FC of Pakistan and Global FC of the Philippines competing. Group A matches will be played in Nepal, while Group C will be in Cambodia.


CFA has been preparing for this hosting and tried to overcome the challenges that came with it.
With only a week left to polish all the preparations, CFA still has to think about the field, lights and tickets.
The successful turnout of the Face-off: Lions vs. Azkals friendly had helped the local body to gain the trust of AFC committee, which sent representatives to conduct an inspection two weeks ago.
The preparation hit a snag when a stage was set up and took half of the field that the CFA was trying to rehabilitate.
CFA officials said yesterday they were able to solve this.
It left holes in the field after it was removed and the group took the immediate move to plant new grass on each holes left by the frame that were dug deep down on the field.
The stadium lights powered by generator sets were also improved. The Philippine Football Federation sent 20 sets of 1,500-watt lights on top of the 20 sets that the CFA provided themselves.
“If Singapore had impressive lighting, this will be more impressive,” said CFA President Ricky Dakay.
Tickets will still be sold at SM Tickets and will still follow the Sinulog color format. Seated tickets are priced at P1,000 for the VIP, P500 for the red, blue and white areas and P100 for the pink, yellow and green or the general admissions area.
One ticket is good for one game day, which has two scheduled matches.
In offering the public with affordable ticket prices, they will have the season pass promo which is a buy two, take one offer.
The release dates for the tickets have not been announced yet as it waits for the go signal from the AFC.
Head for Security Nimrod Quiñones advised the spectators not to bring umbrellas, deadly weapons, bottled drinks and cannisters on game day for the safety of everyone.
Meanwhile, it will be a tough tournament for Global as it faces Dordoi and KRL, which made it to the final stage last year.
The two guest teams will open the single round robin matches on May 8 at 4:30 p.m. followed by Global FC and Yeedzin FC at 6:30 p.m.
On May 10, it will Dordoi FC against Yeedzin FC followed by Global FC and KRL FC and on May 12, it will Yeedzin FC FC taking on KRL FC and Global will challenged Dordoi FC.
Organizers would like to stress that unlike the previous friendly matches they hosted, this is a tournmaent which means all games will be bearing and all match-ups will be crucial.
“The key to the success of this tournament depends on the full support of the Cebu Football community,” said Ricky Dakay.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on May 01, 2013.


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