KUALA LUMPUR: Taiwanese superstar Jay Chou has broken his silence over the controversy concerning his upcoming concert at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.
The stage setup for the concert, set to be held on Jan 15 as part of his world tour, will see 21,000 seats be out of commission for the Malaysia - Thailand 2022 AFF Cup semifinal match taking place tomorrow.
Via his Instagram, the singer addressed the criticism leveled against him, and that his concert would deprive thousands of Harimau Malaya fans of the opportunity to cheer their team on.
Chou's social media pages had been bombarded with hateful comments from Harimau Malaya fans who were displeased that the stage setup would mean less tickets would be allocated for the match.
They had told him that he was not welcome for a concert in Malaysia and that he was the reason why many football fans were unable to secure match tickets.
They had also asked him to postpone his concert to another date.
Chou, in response, wrote that while he had no issue with postponing his concert, it was something that should be addressed to the organisers.
"Malaysian fans, I know how much you love football.
"I can work around a postponement. However, the point is that you should ask the football association (Football Association of Malaysia) or the venue organiser if they can reschedule," he wrote.
Chou said all he wanted was to sing to his fans.
"I just need to sing to my fans. I hope everyone is happy to come to the concert," he wrote.
Chou's concert was initially supposed to take place in 2020 but was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh had yesterday clarified that canceling the concert was out of the question.
She explained that the concert organisers had booked the Bukit Jalil National Stadium as the concert venue on March 13, 2019.
FAM, meanwhile, booked the venue on Aug 18, 2022.
Yeoh said the concert organisers and its 685-strong crew need 14 days to set up the stage and had already delayed the setup by two-and-a-half days to make room for the AFF match.