Suzuki Cup: A leap forward for football; A step back for sports tourism

CEBU, Philippines – As the euphoria stays on from the excellent performance of the Philippine football team in Vietnam this week, we are saddened by the fact that the Philippines will not be playing host in the home and away semi-final leg and even the final should they qualify.

In a press statement issued by the ASEAN Football Ferderation (AFF), it was stated in no uncertain terms that we lack the stadium of the quality desired by the AFF.

Apparently, when the decision was taken, the Philippines rather sheepishly had to concede to this sentiment of the the organizers. Our football officials and players know too darn well our best football stadium in the country is still a far cry from those found in the capital cities in our Asean neighbors.

And where is the best football field in the country found? Definitely not in Manila (Rizal Stadium or Ultra Pasig) but in Bacolod - the Panaad Stadium.

What baffles me is that in 2005, the football tournament of the SEA Games was held there under the auspices of the AFF. A year later in 2006 the qualifying rounds of the AFF tournament was also staged there.

There were crowds up to 15,000 whenever the Philippines played at Panaad and the Negrenses really know their football.

Every sportsman and woman knows the advantage of a home ground. At times when you are a goal down, the roar of the crowd or the Masskara drum beaters perks you up. Upsets are created by underdogs. Our askals (pun intended) know that.

As I begin to analyze the loss to sports tourism to the Philippines, we still do not know IN which country the Philippines will "host" its match leg in the semifinals.

The ridiculous situation now is when we play Indonesia in the semifinals it will be one game in Jakarta and the other in some other country of Philippine choice (except the Philippines!) or both games could be in Indonesia.

Given the composition of our current team, I am tempted to suggest we play our semifinal in England! We will have back our home ground advantage to a certain degree.

The semifinals of the Suzuki Cup 2010 will be played between December 15 and 19 and the home and away finals on December 26 and 29.

What is the score that we are not playing our home leg on Philippine soil?

First and foremost our football fans will not be able to see first class football action especially our newly acclaimed eleven who are the talk of the Asean today.

Depriving fans and aspiring players of this basic privilege is cruel and stifles the game's interest. Absolutely bad for the sport development.

From the tourism stand point we tend to lose millions of pesos for our non hosting of the games. As the tournament reaches fever pitch in its final stage, fans from Indonesia will land at our door steps by the hundreds, if not thousands.

Each team travels with a contingent of 50 to 60 members comprising of players, officials, trainers and assistants. Then immediate members of the players normally tag along. In a football crazy country like Indonesia, you will not be far wrong if you see hundreds of Indonesians roaming the streets of Bacolod or Manila with the sole purpose of watching the game. But it is not to be.

Each fan will spend close to USD1,000.00 on airfares, hotel, food and drinks coming here. But it is not to be.

In Europe, dozens of airlines operate chartered flights and crisscross the continent whenever a home and away game is played, be it be the European Cup, UEAFA champions league or even a friendly international.

The flights arrive a few hours before the match and leaves the same night after the game shuttling hordes of fans. Ironically, some fans overstay, get so drunk, get beaten up and are left behind in jail!

The concept of the AFF Suzuki Cup tournament format fully encourages sports tourism. The final six games are played in six different cities all within a span of 14 days.

Alas, the Philippines will skip this out this year and, mercifully not, a few more years to come. The need for a high standard football pitch complete with first class facilities is so wanting in this country IF we wish to be in the big league.

Rehabilitating football pitches around the country must begin and stadium facilities must be vastly improved or, forever our sportsmen and women will end up losers. This goes for all the other sports as well.

The most cruel cut is, here we have a team that's so promising and have not let us down - country and fans - and yet we deny them of the home crowd advantage at a time when they need us most.

Editor's Note: Charles Lim is the founder of Sports Tourism Forum and avid sports fan. He served for a while as secretary-general of the National Capital Region Football Association and has vast knowledge in sports marketing and the tourism industry. He is also currently the PR consultant of Cebu Pacific Air and runs his own PR agency. He can be contacted at [email protected]. (FREEMAN)