THE Rizal Memorial Stadium is being eyed to be the official home of Philippine football by the Philippine Sports Commission.
PSC chairman Patrick Gregorio said he hopes to draw support from FIFA in the endeavor after the international federation recently had an agreement with the Philippine Football Federation for the funding of football pitches across the country.
Three full-size pitches, nine half pitches, and seven artificial mini pitches were funded by FIFA for a total of USD 3.6 million all over the Philippines last year - with some already completed and some set to be finished by July 2026.
PFF president John Gutierrez is eyeing 20 more football pitches this year that will be funded once again by FIFA, and Gregorio hopes the renovation of Rizal Memorial Stadium to bea dded to the list.
Although Rizal Memorial Stadium has already hosted several football matches for national teams, Gregorio said a major facelift to the 92-year-old venue will be needed in order to draw more fans to support the sport.
“I hope that next time we meet the media, I have convinced PFF and FIFA to also take a look at the football field in Rizal,” said Gregorio during a press conference on Thursday.
“I really believe we need a football home and I really believe that the Filipinos will really support football if there is an improved or increased capacity.
“Ngayon pa lang, sinasabi ko na please relate to FIFA that we need all the support for PFF to pursue a football home in Rizal,” he added.
Goal for Philippine football
In order for those other 20 football pitches to become a reality, Gutierrez has requested the PSC to help the PFF in finding properties, so the national federation can request financial support from FIFA.
“We can create more infrastructure. We need the land to build pitches. Hindi po kasi realty corporation ang international football associations. Hindi naman real estate company ang FIFA, AFC (Asian Football Confederation), and AFF (ASEAN Football Federation). They will provide the infrastructure if we can provide the land to put it on," he said.
"Ang pakiusap ko sa lahat ng facility ng PSC, kung mapagbibigyan niyo ang PFF, ire-request namin sa FIFA, AFC, at AFF na bigyan pa tayo ng pitch or field projects para halos lahat ng sulok ng Pilipinas, malagyan natin. This is just the beginning. This is 20 pitches this year. Hopefully, we can get more. We can apply more.”
For the PSC's part, Gregorio added state universities and colleges are candidates for PFF’s plan for more football pitches.
“Na-realize namin na ang PSC, pwedeng makipagtulungan sa state universities and colleges because they have thousands of hectares of land, but they don’t have funds to develop sports facilities,” he said.
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