Kaya to host AFC Cup home matches at Panaad

KAYA FC-Iloilo will have to host its home matches in the 2019 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup from the Iloilo Sports Complex (ISC) in Iloilo to the Panaad Park and Stadium in Bacolod City.

Kaya Iloilo’s management said in a statement that despite refurbishing, the Iloilo Sports Complex (ISC) did not meet AFC’s stringent stadium standards.

“The club wanted nothing more than to bring AFC Cup football to the Iloilo Sports Complex, but despite exhausting all efforts to prepare the venue, ISC remains short of the stadium standards required to host an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) contest,” a part of the statement reads.

The Panaad pitch is the home of Kaya FC’s local rival Ceres Negros FC.

The Rizal Memorial Football Stadium, which hosted Global Cebu FC’s AFC Cup games last season, is undergoing renovation in preparation for the Philippines’s hosting of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games late this year.

“The Negros Occidental government, along with Ceres Negros, have been gracious in welcoming us,” Kaya said in the statement.

Kaya will play its first AFC Cup home fixture against defending AFC Cup Asean zone champion Home United FC of Singapore on March 13.

The Philippine domestic league runner-up will then take on Indonesian team PSM Makassar on April 17 and Laos champion Lao Toyota FC on April 30.

Kaya qualified for the AFC Cup this season after winning the Copa Paulino Alcantara against Davao Aguilas FC last year.

The 23-year old Filipino club will return to Asia’s second-tier club competition after a three-year absence. Kaya reached the knockout stage of the AFC Cup in 2016.