Paulino Alcantara Peace Cup moved to Rizal Memorial Stadium

The upcoming Paulino Alcantara Peace Cup, formerly known as the Long Teng Cup, has seen its venue moved from Bacolod to Manila, tournament organizers confirmed Thursday at a press conference. The Rizal Memorial Stadium (RMS) was supposed to be unavailable due to a scheduled renovation of the pitch, allowing Bacolod to “come into play,” said Philippine Football Federation (PFF) Head of Communications Ebong Joson. But with the delays in switching from natural grass to artificial turf freeing up RMS, coupled with logistics concerns,   the decision was made to switch the venue to the capital. During the announcement, Joson confirmed that organizers in Bacolod had suggested a budget of P5.7 million, but having it in Manila costs the PFF an estimated P6 million, or just P0.3 million more. TV coverage, easier and cheaper to arrange in Manila, was also taken into consideration. The PFF plans to pay for all the expenses of the four teams involved, excluding flights. The change of venue to Manila had actually circulated across the internet since Tuesday, after the Guam FA first tweeted about it, but the reasons for the move were only made official during the press conference. Not everyone is happy about the shift however, with fans in Bacolod looking forward to seeing the teams in action left disappointed. However, PFF President Nonog Araneta said that “definitely there will be future games played there,” as “Bacolod is one of the hotbeds of Philippine football.”   Other fans were concerned about the fact that they had already made travel arrangements for Bacolod, but Joson allayed those concerns by saying that patrons who can prove they had flights booked already can receive free tickets to all the games by emailing him or the PFF. Peace Cup The tournament also sees the involvement of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, which is the reason behind calling it the “Peace Cup.” Speaking of the move at the press conference, Joson said that “The Azkals dedicate every game in September to the peace process.” The tournament will also be a chance to test the capability of the PFF to host tournaments. PFF president Araneta noted that they are looking at future tourneys with a similar set-up next year, such as the SEA Games with the Under-23 team. Schedule For the Paulino Alcantara Peace Cup, the schedule will remain the same, with games on the 25th, 27th and 29th of September. The Philippines are slated to play in each of the evening slots, with the final match between the heavily favored host team Philippines and Taiwan likely determining the overall winner of the Paulino Alcantara Peace Cup.

• September 25:       
  • Taiwan v Macau at 4pm
  • Philippines v Guam at 7:30pm
• September 27        
  • Taiwan v Guam at 4pm
  • Philippines v Macau at 7:30pm
• September 29       
  • Guam v Macau at 4pm
  • Philippines v Taiwan at 7:30pm

The Paulino Alcantara Peace Cup is a reformatting of the Long Teng Cup, after the Philippines was asked to take over the hosting duties from Taiwan. It is named after Paulino Alcantara, who is regarded as the best Filipino footballer in history. - AMD, GMA News