BY JONAS TERRADO
THE men’s football competitions of the 30th Southeast Asian Games gets underway amid of cloud of controversy surrounding problems encountered by visiting teams upon their arrival over the weekend.
Reinforced by veterans Stephan Schrock and Amani Aguinaldo, the national U-22 team takes on Cambodia at 8 p.m. while Malaysia faces Myanmar in the 4 p.m. opener at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Vietnam battles Brunei in the other match also slated 4 p.m. at the Binan Football Stadium in Laguna.
Most of the discussion during Sunday’s pre-tournament press conference at the Century Park Hotel centered on the issues suffered by defending champion Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Timor-Leste.
PHISGOC did came out with a statement prior to the presser acknowledging the inconvenience, though insisting that it made efforts to smooth things out.
PHISGOC SAYS SORRY
“We sincerely apologize to our athlete guests from Timor-Leste, Myanmar and Cambodia for the inconvenience caused to them by the confusion regarding their transportation and hotel arrangements,” PHISGOC said in a statement.
“While PHISGOC strives to ensure proper coordination of the arrival details, airport welcome and transportation provisions of all international teams to their respective assigned hotels, we acknowledge our shortcomings in this particular incident and vow to do better,” the statement added.
Myanmar was forced to wait for hours before mini-buses were able to arrive at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Timor-Leste had the same issues while being brought to the wrong hotel.
Cambodia had perhaps the worst ordeal as the players had to stay at a conference room while waiting for their hotel accommodations.
“I hope in the future, it does not happen again,” said Timor-Leste coach Fabiano Flora.
While also disappointed with the ordeal, Cambodia coach Felix Dalmas said the only things he and his players can do right now is to adjust.
THINGS HAPPEN
“It wasn’t ideal to wait for maybe eight or nine hours to get a hotel room, but things happen,” said Dalmas. “We adjust and evolve and that is what our bodies are working so we’re good.”
Myanmar mentor Velizar Popov , on the other hand, would rather focus on the upcoming competition.
“I think it’s not good image for the tournament if we start to talk in the press conference about this,” said Popov, adding that he doesn’t want to make any excuses.
Meanwhile, two more events will start in different venues.
Floorball action is set at the College of Human Kinetics Gym of the University of the Philippines while netball takes place at the City of Sta. Rosa Multi-Purpose Complex in Laguna.
BAD START FOR PH;
MALAYSIA WINS
Meantime, the Philippine polo team started on the wrong foot as it suffered a stinging 8.5-8 loss to Brunei in the 4-6 goal event at Calatagan Polo Field in Batangas.
The loss was a bitter pill to swallow for Team PH as it took an 8-6.5 lead on a superb goal by Gus Aguirrer.
But to the dismay of the Team PH supporters, Brunei scored two goals to snatch the win.
Brunei, which finished third in the Kuala Lumpur edition two years ago, was bannered by the famous Bolkiah brothers – Prince Bahar and Prince Mateen.
Malaysia, on the other hand, started its bid for back-to-back titles on winning note by downing Indonesia, 11-7.5.
