KUALA LUMPUR – Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu has assured the Tunku Mahkota of Johor (TMJ) Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim that his ministry will make sure the Bukit Jalil National Stadium field will be maintained and looked after properly.
In a statement, he ensured that the field would be used accordingly for sports activities, adding that the Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) would work closely with Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) for the purpose.
“Thank you to His Royal Highness Major General Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim for agreeing to sponsor the replanting of the grass at the National Stadium.
“The sponsorship is to ensure that the National Stadium has a field that is able to be used for international matches, which is meaningful to all local football fans, and especially to the national players, he said.
He said this was especially so as the field at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium used by JDT had been proven to be of international standard and well-maintained.
Faizal, in a tweet, also denied a news portal report that it was the ministry that would decide on the type of grass to be planted for the National Stadium, adding that he had asked the portal to make a correction to the title of the article.
”Everybody knows Tunku Ismail’s intention for sponsoring the replanting of the grass at the National Stadium, but I never mentioned that we (the ministry) would be determining the type of grass to be planted,” he said.
Earlier, Tunku Ismail, tweeted that he was sincere to sponsor the cost of planting the new grass at the National Stadium.
He also said that he will be inspecting the Bukit Jalil National Stadium on March 19 apart from sharing the cost as well as maintenance of the new grass which is expected to cost not more than RM240,000 a year.
Last Thursday, Tunku Ismail through a statement on the Southern Tigers Facebook page said the Zeon Zoysia type of grass would be used, just like the one at the JDT-owned Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Iskandar Puteri. JDT, through a social media update later said Tunku Ismail had already signed a cheque for the work to replace grass, with the assistance of the Malaysian Stadium Corporation (PSM) – Bernama, March 13, 2022