CFA gets high grade for very successful hosting of AFC Cup

The Cebu Football Association headed by Pericles “Ricky” Dakay successfully placed Cebu in the map of Asian football after receiving the highest praise from Asian Football Confederation (AFC) match commissioner Salman Namshan of Saudi Arabia for its hosting of the recent Group B qualifier of the 2013 AFC President’s Cup at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC).

CFA board member Glenn Quisido, the overall committee chairman, said that Namshan had told them that their hosting is of the level of hosting the AFC Champions League, the top level Asian club football tournament organized by the AFC where the winners qualify to the FIFA Club World Cup.

Namshan had added that among the first time hosts of the AFC President’s Cup, the CFA had done the best job.

According to CFA board member Rico Navarro, who handled the marketing as well as served as the media liaison for the event, Namshan had told them that who ever will next host the AFC President’s Cup will be hard pressed to top what the CFA did.

Quisido said that he is very proud that they were able to surpass what the other first-time hosts have done.

He recalled that when the AFC came here three weeks ago to conduct an inspection, they got failing marks for the balding condition of the pitch, the lights and the lockers.

FAST ACTION

The CFA was then told that they have to recover everything within two weeks otherwise the tournament will be transferred to Manila.

When they came back and saw all the changes, Namshan said it was a miracle and he put it down to teamwork.

According to Navarro, what Namshan appreciated is the fast action given to his complaints that on the last day of the tournament (May 12), everything was already perfect.

Namshan also commented on the professionalism of everyone involved and that he is very satisfied with the management and hospitality that he was shown.

The match commissioner said that Cebu is very ready to host an AFC Champions League except for one thing—the lack of quality training pitches.

During the AFC President’s Cup, teams had trained at the Aboitiz Sports Field in Subangdaku, Mandaue and at the CCSC.

According to Namshan, the match field should never be used for training and an ideal training field should be exactly the same as the  venue.

Namshan, who is an architect, visited the field at the University of San Carlos being worked on by Dakay and changed the layout of the field to meet international standards.

He even said that the CFA can consult him while work on the USC pitch is ongoing.