MANILA Jockey Club Inc., the country’s premier horse racing club and one of Asia’s oldest, in partnership with the Philippine Football Federation will be hosting the inauguration and turnover ceremonies of the FIFA Football Turf Project Saturday at the San Lazaro Leisure and Business Park in Carmona, Cavite.
The project, formalized in April 2014, aims to build a football complex and stadium at SLLBP featuring a prestigious FIFA certified 2-Star artificial pitch.
With the field now completed, the partnership looks forward to developing related appurtenances including locker rooms, dormitories and other training facilities. In the pipeline is the construction of a 25,000-seater stadium with VIP viewing boxes, media center, dressing rooms and concessionaire booths.
The day will also host the groundbreaking ceremony of the PFF House of Football and National Football Center, effectively making the SLLBP complex as a football mecca of the Philippines. Apart from being a training center of the National Teams, the site will also host international friendlies, competition matches and other related events.
Expected to attend ceremonies are officials from the FIFA Congress, PFF Board of Governors, Asian Football Confederation, ASEAN Football Federation, the Manila Jockey Club, the national government and business partners of the Club.
The FIFA Football Turf Project inauguration along with the PFF House of Football and National Football Center groundbreaking ceremonies coincide with Manila Jockey Club’s 150th Anniversary celebration this year. Its partnership with the PFF pays tribute to its heritage as one of the earliest football clubs in the country. In the early 1900s, MJC had its own football club formed after the Philippine-American War which competed with local teams such as the Manila Sporting Club, Paris Club, Sandow Athletic Club and the Bohemian Sporting Club.