P1.5 M to be raised from Azkals charity match

Thursday, January 5, 2012

SOME P1.5 million is expected to be generated from a charity game between the Philippine football team Azkals and Spanish club, CF Internacional de Madrid on Saturday at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

The Philippine Red Cross, main beneficiary of the match's proceeds, disclosed the figure on Thursday as preparations for the game organized for the benefit of victims of Tropical Storm Sendong (international name: Washi) went full-swing.

"About P1.5 million will be raised from the match. This will come from ticket sales and proceeds from our donation booths," PRC secretary-general Gwendolyn Pang told Sun.Star, adding that the money will be used for providing shelter and livelihood to storm victims.

Earlier, the Red Cross said some 1,000 shelters will be built on a five-hectare lot owned by Jesuit-run Xavier University in Lumbia village, a hilly area near the airport of badly-hit Cagayan de Oro City.

Passes for the match went on sale last Monday at official ticket distributor Ticketworld.

Despite being priced at P100-P500, Ticketworld said there is still an “excellent” availability of the tickets for the 4 p.m. match this weekend.

For his part, local organizing committee member Joseph Ladrido said in a separate interview that “everything is going well” with regard to event preparations.

Dubbed “Dili Kamo Nag-Iisa” (You are not alone), event organizers led by express courier LBC are also asking for donations of goods to be taken to the match where the company will have trucks and staff on site to help sort the relief items.

Sendong left a trail of destruction a week before Christmas in the low-lying cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan, where over 1,200 people got killed in massive flashfloods caused by heavy rains.

This prompted Fil-British midfielder Chris Greatwich to send messages to football leaders and friends back in the Philippines, asking them on what they can do to help the victims.

“It all started when Chris sent a bunch of us a message wondering what us football people can do to help. I know we all do our share in our own little way, but we wanted to use our influence in the football community to be able to gain the most support,” LBC chief executive officer Santi Araneta said.

Araneta, who is also chairman of the United Football League (UFL), said it is important to pool resources and show community spirit every time a disaster strikes.

“Why football? Because it takes a team not an individual to win a game. This is symbolic of our own efforts to help out. We need to do it together so everyone wins,” he said.

After the Spaniards, the Filipinos will take on South Korea third-tier club Icheon Citizens in another friendly match to help Sendong victims on January 21.

The Philippines, which will be known as Azkals Alyansa, will be composed of players from the national team and UFL standouts.

They are James and Phil Younghusband, Chieffy Caligdong, Ian Araneta, Anton del Rosario, Nate Burkey, Jason Sabio, OJ Clarino, Jinggoy Valmayor, Paolo Pascual, and Raymark Fernandez, among others.

Calling the shots for the Alyansa is Edwin Cabalida, whose house in Dumaguete City was nearly flooded due to Sendong. Cabalida is the coach of the Air Force squad which recently won the UFL Cup.

Internacional de Madrid, a third division football team in Spain, has yet to announce its line-up.

On its website, the team said it gave importance to the match, “moreso because of the historical and cultural ties between Spain and the Philippines.”

The Philippines was a Spanish colony for over 300 years from 1521 to 1898. (Sunnex)