Philippines’ Azkals ridiculed by Hong Kong fans

The Philippines’ national football players may have been ridiculed by the crowd in Hong Kong during their recent friendly match against their hosts, but a foreign-affairs official in Manila said the incident did not reflect the feelings of the people in that Chinese administrative region.

Raul Hernandez, assistant secretary at and spokesman of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), has said that the Philippines was “concerned about some unfortunate events” when the crowd booed and ridiculed the Filipino athletes as “slaves” at Mongkok Stadium, on June 4.

“However, we believe that this is not reflective of the general sentiments of the Hong Kong community,” he added during a press briefing.

He also stressed, “Sports is one of the best avenues in fostering mutual respect and understanding between communities and we hope that future similar activities will further strengthen the friendship between the people of the Philippines and Hong Kong.”

The Azkals beat Hong Kong, 1-0, on a first-half goal by James Younghusband.

Media reports earlier said that Hong Kong fans hurled invectives at the Azkals and their Filipino fans, telling them they were a “slave nation”, and threw water bottles and other debris at them, including women and children, after the match. The Hong Kong fans also booed when the Philippine national anthem was played.

It may be recalled that relations between Manila and Hong Kong, host to 170,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), soured in 2010 after eight Hong Kong tourists were killed in a bus hostage-taking drama at the Manila’s historic Quirino Grandstand.

Hong Kong has since included the Philippines on its travel blacklist.

The ‘Philippine Daily Inquirer’ said in a recent survey conducted by a Hong Kong university, the Philippines turned out to be the most disliked country by Hong Kong nationals, while Singapore, Canada and Australia were the most liked.

About 86 per cent of the 1,000 respondents allegedly had negative feelings towards the Philippine government while 30 per cent had negative feelings towards the Filipino people. The study did not give reasons for such sentiment.


ASEAN MVP Taulava powers San Miguel past Indonesia Warriors

Having made two big shots at the last minute to help San Miguel take a 1-0 lead in AirAsia’s ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) on Friday, Asi Taulava proved why he is this year’s ASEAN MVP awardee.
San Miguel last night beat the Indonesia Warriors, 75-70, at the Ynares Sports Arena, in Metro Manila’s Pasig City, ABL said in an article posted on its website.

Game 2 is at 3pm (Manila time) tomorrow, Sunday, also at Ynares Sports Arena. The third and fourth games will be held in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta.

The 40-year-old Taulava, just hours after becoming the MVP of ASEAN, or Association of Southeast Asian Nations, posted a game-high 22 points, including his team’s last six points, and 10 rebounds to power the Beermen past the defending champions.

“They are the defending champions,” said Taulava, who expects the Warriors to play much harder in the next game. “You can’t take that away from them. They will come back in the next game and it’s going to be even harder to get a win. They are very experienced.”

Steve Thomas led the Warriors with a double-double of 20 points and 17 boards.

San Miguel’s Chris Banchero finished with 15 points, six rebounds and five assists while Val Acuña ended up with 13 points, including two key triples in the last seven minutes.

“We put our premium on defence,” San Miguel coach Leo Austria said. “It’s hard to get an open shot. We were more focused tonight. Every possession counts.”

ABL formally presented the Coach of the Year award to Austria and the MVP award to Taulava just before the start of Game 1 last night.

Ten years ago, Taulava also bagged the top individual plum in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.