National Stadium to get new world-class pitch end-June

KUALA LUMPUR: A new world-class pitch is expected to be ready for use at the National Stadium in the Kuala Lumpur Sports City (KLSC) by the end of June, said outgoing Malaysia Stadium Corporation (MSC) chairman Tan Sri Tony Fernandes.

The special MSC board of directors meeting chaired by him this morning decided on the pitch project which will involve a RM10 million budget.

"Going forward we want to fix the pitch. Today the board agreed on appointing two consultants and we have set a date, June 22; we hope to have a new pitch which would be world class.

"The contract that MSC is awarding will include maintenance for the next four years," he told reporters here.

He said MSC has four samples of different grass types which will be tested for their suitability for use in several types of sports, namely football, rugby and athletics.

Earlier, Fernandes met with MSC staff in a ceremony at the National Stadium, before he ends his two years and seven months of service as chairman on March 20.

Also present were Ministry of Youth and Sports deputy secretary-general Ramona Mohd Razali, Football Association of Malaysia deputy president Datuk S. Sivasundaram and several representatives from other national sports associations.

During his tenure at MSC, Fernandes has made many reforms including changes in its organisational structure to be more transparent as well as realigning the core business and objectives of MSC.

In 2018, MSC realised its plan to sell the National Stadium corporate suite during events, earning it almost RM500,000 while with the increase in the number of events in 2019 recorded revenue of RM10.2 million compared to RM4.3 million in 2018.

"I will hand over this mandate and responsibility to the new line of members of the corporation to continue the efforts and ideas at the National Stadium.

"It includes the grass conversion project, plans to develop the national sports museum, launching the KL Alive and rationalising the branch complex through request for proposal (RFP) projects or small leases aimed at reducing costs but maximising revenue," he said.

A leading corporate figure, Fernandes was appointed as MSC chairman in September 2018 to replace Datuk Rozabil Abdul Rahman.

-- BERNAMA