Jakarta Casual

So I arrived in Manila on Thursday giving me 48 hours to acclimatize to being in a foreign country! Well, they do drive on the wrong side of the road, they have different money and local beer is absurdly cheap!

I am hardly getting out and about and exploring Manila but one thing I haven't noticed is any promotion of the AFF Championships. I mean, it is not as if the Philippines host many football events, you would think someone somewhere is pushing the boat out but no, nothing.

I hired a car and a driver from the hotel to get to the stadium and he asked, as we got lost one more time, what was going on at the stadium? He knew nothing.

In a country where football is struggling to invade on the space taken up by American sports like netball you would think the PFF would be going all out to pull in the punters or at least generate some interest but I have seen nothing in the way of promotion.

Then there is the stadium. A tidy enough all seater affair it is very difficult to get to and the PFF had taken to laying on special buses from an are to the north of Manila to ferry fans to and from the arena. The stadium is next to the motorway heaing north but bloody hell, it can take over an hour just to reach the highway from parts of the city. The traffic is hell!

A poorly located venue is hosting a poorly advertised international football event. Don't be surprised if the games are poorly attended.