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Many nations around the world have stadiums as grand as their football ambitions. Never mind England's Wembley Stadium, perhaps the sport's most famous playing field. That only has space for 90,000 fans. The Philippines' neighbor Malaysia's national stadium has a seating capacity of over 100,000. Even North Korea, whose people occasionally face starvation, found the resources to build an arena for 150,000. Meanwhile, the lionized Philippine national team, the Azkals, at one point couldn't find a facility in Manila to play an important home game against Indonesia in 2010 and had to move it to Jakarta, where they played in front of 80,000 screaming fans of their opponents. The Azkals' home stadium, Rizal Memorial, cannot seat more than 13,000. The government wants to change all that.
London's Wembley Stadium —which hosted the 2011 UEFA Champions' League finals match between FC Barcelona and Manchester United FC— can seat around 90,000 spectators. Will the Azkals' home field be anywhere near that size? Photo by Ian Wilson, licensed under Creative Commons.
In Congress, Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro on Tuesday urged his colleagues to support a bill to build a "world-class" football stadium in the Philippines worth P300 million, with a seating capacity of 75,000, which would dwarf any other sports facility in the country. Rodriguez, as proposed under House Bill 4298, hopes to provide a "home" for the Philippine Azkals, the country's national football team. He added that building a national football stadium will "generate the enthusiasm" of the youth to engage in the sport. "If the executive has not been able to see this need, we should seize the day so that we can all say that we can have a world-class football stadium in the Philippines," he said during a committee hearing. Sports authorities are exploring a less costly alternative, renovating Rizal Memorial Stadium. Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Ricardo Garcia said his agency is working towards the renovation of the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila into 30,000-seater football stadium. Garcia said the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) and the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Football Association) "will fund the rehabilitation of the playing area... It will just be dedicated to football." Yet another vision is for a major sports center to rise near the Clark Airport in Pampanga. Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Jose "Peping" Cojuangco Jr. said his agency is coordinating with the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) to build it. The advantage of a huge home crowd is equated by many sports teams to having an extra player on the field. — JVP/HS, GMA News
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