Soccer stadium to rise over old Rizal track?

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Sports Commission yesterday bared its plan to convert the old track and field oval at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex into a football field even as it signified its intention to tap a private institution to co-finance the project.

“The plan is to turn the Rizal Memorial Track and Field Oval into a football stadium and we’re going to pursue that,” said Philippine Sports Commission chair Harry Angping.

“It’s just matter of having a budget and finding probably a private partner to help co-finance it,” he said.

Angping, in fact, said they might explore the possibility of forging a partnership with La Salle in making the plan for the construction of a state-of-the-art football field, which could also host several international events.

The plan is but the latest of the many projects being done at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.

Since Angping took over the reins of the government sports funding body last year, the PSC renovated the Gymnastics Center, the three-story boxing building, the agency’s administration building, the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, the Rizal Memorial Coliseum and more recently, the taekwondo center.

Meanwhile, the PSC will hold a pair of big events in line with its 20th anniversary celebrations this month.

From Feb. 25-28, the PSC will hold a mega sports exposition dubbed “All in Sports Expo 2010” at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex and stage the Commission on Higher Education Games.

The PSC will also sponsor a photo contest offering a juicy prize of P100,000 to the winner. The second placer will get P50,000 while the third placer will receive P25,000. The fourth and fifth placers will get P10,000 each.

Only photographs of athletes, sports personalities, sports events and sports fans taken from Jan. 1, 1990 until Dec. 31, 2009, published or unpublished, will be accepted.   – Joey Villar