MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Azkals will receive a $20,000 (roughly P860,000) grant from the Asian Football Confederation in the coming weeks to cover for the national team’s travel expenses when it battles Mongolia again in Ulan Bator next month.
But Philippine Football Federation chief Mariano “Nonong” Araneta disclosed that AFC’s financial aid is not enough for the operating cost of bringing a 30-man squad to the cold Mongolia for the match set March 15.
“It’s not enough,” Araneta said yesterday.
He said a round-trip ticket for each person costs $1,500 (P64,500), meaning the PFF will need $45,000 (about P1.9 million) for everyone to get on board.
Excluded in the computation are the expenses for their hotel stay.
Araneta said the hosts will only shoulder the hotel expenses of the Azkals for three days under the usual hosting arrangements.
But team manager Dan Palami said they plan to touch down in the country – bordered to north by Russia and China to the south – a week before the match so the players can get acclimatized with the temperature, which reportedly drops to as freezing as negative 20 degrees at night. The match is set at 1 p.m., the warmest time of the day at minus 10 degrees.
“We’re planning to seek help from the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and Pagcor (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation),” Araneta said.
When the Azkals thumped Mongolia, 2-0, in the first leg of their AFC qualifying match in Bacolod City, the PSC, alongside Pagcor and President Aquino’s aid, reportedly spent P6 million for the hosting and hotel accommodation.
“For the whole trip to Mongolia, we may need P4 million,” said Palami, who single-handedly bankrolled the team’s campaign in 2010.
The Azkals start their build up on Feb. 20 with a high-altitude training in Baguio City.
Araneta said they requested the Mongolian Football Federation on Friday to allow the team to use an artificial practice pitch a week before the match.
If rejected, Araneta said they are looking at bringing the team to a facility in Fukushima, Japan instead. The PFF and Japan Football Association renewed their ties recently with Japan vowing to help in the PFF’s grassroots development program and coaches’ training.
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/304132/af ... golia-trip Батмөнх