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Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Venues to be checked
By Frank C. Calapre
Sun.Star Correspondent
MANILA – Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman William “Butch” Ramirez yesterday said that “chief of missions” from Malaysia and Singapore will arrive on Sunday in Cebu City to conduct ocular inspection in the four venues chosen to stage some of the games in the 23rd Southeast Asian Games (Seag) on Nov. 27 to Dec. 5.
Ramirez said Cebu City is one of the most important provincial hosts cited by the two delegations since it will stage medal-rich sports karatedo, judo, sepak takraw and pencak silat.
The foreign delegations will also inspect the 38 venues in Metro Manila, Bacolod City and Subic, which will host popular sports like Men’s football and boxing.
Also to be visited is the controversial venue for Men’s basketball at the Ynares Gym in Antipolo City and Women’s basketball at the Ateneo Gym in Quezon City.
Their visit to basketball venues will push through despite the country’s suspension from the Fiba, the world basketball body, which barred the country from participating in any international tournament, including the SEA Games.
“They will still inspect the basketball venues because it’s only us that was suspended by the Fiba, while both Malaysia and Singapore are not,” Ramirez said.
Delegation heads
The Malaysians, who will arrive on Sunday from Manila, will be headed by Noor Azman Mohn Kasim and M.P. Haridas D. Menon, while Lee Ping Hun Anthony and Ty Hwei Chin will head the Singaporeans.
Both parties are scheduled to depart Cebu for Manila on Aug. 5.
Among those included in the inspection are the Cebu Coliseum for karatedo, University of San Carlos Gym for sepak takraw, Mandaue Cultural and Sports Complex for pencak silat, Waterfront Hotel ballroom for dancesport and the Convention Center for judo. Neighboring Danao City will also host the mountainbike competition.
Meanwhile, Ramirez said the Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee (Philsoc) is in a tight situation as far as meeting the targeted P1.5 billion budget from the private sector is concerned.
Confident
However, Ramirez expressed confidence Philsoc Chairman Roberto Pagdanganan and POC President Cojuangco can find ways to remedy the situation despite barely four months away from the SEA Games.
Pagdanganan had told sportswriters at the weekly Philippine Sportswriters Association forum yesterday at the Pantalan Restaurant in Luneta that the Philsoc marketing group is encountering difficulties meeting the budget target to run the SEA Games, which was also held in the Philippines in 1981 and 1991.
And in the event Philsoc fails then they have no other recourse but to ask financial assistance from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Pagdanganan said.
(July 27, 2005 issue)
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