ALOR STAR – The Youth and Sports Ministry has completed its post-mortem of the poor condition of the field at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil for the Malaysia Cup final on December 8.
Its minister, Hannah Yeoh, said the Malaysian Stadium Board had also completed its investigation into the matter to avoid a recurrence.
“The post-mortem at the ministry level was completed last week as promised. Only the report has to be presented to the stadium board first.
‘It’s now the end of the year, and the Malaysian Stadium Board has scheduled a meeting early next month to make a decision, and we are taking steps for improvement,” she told reporters here today.
She also said that the report would not be made public since it involves an internal inquiry conducted by the ministry and board.
The issue of the field at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil became a hot topic among local football fans after it was said to have been damaged after the Coldplay concert at the venue on November 22.
Meanwhile, commenting on the decision by Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria to remain as Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president, Hannah said it would ensure BAM continues to focus on preparations through the Road to Gold programme, which was introduced to coordinate the country’s efforts in its quest to bag Malaysia’s first Olympic Games gold medal.
“Under the planning for the Road to Gold programme, once we are in January, we can continue with our preparations for the Olympic Games, namely Paris 2024. Right now, the objective for the shuttlers is to qualify for the Olympics,” she said after attending a ceremony to hand over the state squash training centre to the Kedah government here today.
The construction of the squash centre, costing RM10.8 million under the 11th and 12th Malaysia Plans, was completed on August 20, and it is equipped with eight courts, a pavilion, changing rooms, a surau, as well as rooms for coaches and technical and support staff.
“With this, they now have a more comfortable facility for their talent development programme in Kedah,” she said. – December 18, 2023