KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Stadium Corporation (MSC) chairman Datuk Hans Isaac has been urged to resign if the condition of the Bukit Jalil National Stadium's pitch remains dire before and after the match between Harimau Malaya and Oman.
This call was made by local football observer Zack Rahim, who believes that Hans should take responsibility for the matter.
"However, if on the day of the game, the pitch conditions are worse than the Raja Muda Stadium, I feel that the chairman of MSC, the entire MSC board of directors and the MSC chief executive
officer should be ready to leave MSC immediately after Tuesday's game.
"This demand is not because we cannot accept the stadium being used for concerts. But it is because all of those mentioned above are incompetent and incapable of shouldering the responsibility as managers of assets that are under the Youth and Sports Ministry, namely the National Stadium. They have failed terribly," he said.
Earlier, the issue of the Bukit Jalil National Stadium's pitch continued to be a hot topic of discussion following the spread of videos and images showing the damage to the surface of the pitch due to the Ed Sheeran concert that was held on Feb 24.
Furthermore, the same issue occurred last November when the corporation allowed a Coldplay concert to be held on the National Stadium's pitch, resulting in damage to the surface of the pitch. This happened despite it being a new type of Zeon Zoysia grass pitch that was sponsored by the Tunku Mahkota Johor Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sultan Ibrahim.
"It doesn't matter if they want to hold concerts, gigs, or fun fairs, because it brings income to the stadium. Everyone understands that. Relying solely on football is not enough to maintain a stadium, including the other facilities such as the hockey stadium, other arenas, and the swimming complex.
"But when they fail to manage it as promised, it means failure. All promises and hope given are therefore false.
"Failing on one hand, deceiving Malaysian football fans, deceiving the FA of Malaysia (FAM), and deceiving the Malaysian people is a very, very serious matter," he said.
On March 8, a concerned national coach Kim Pan Gon said he was disappointed with the pitch's conditions.
On Friday (March 22), Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh said photos of the stadium's pitch that appeared on social media, taken by drones, did not reflect the current situation.
In October last year, the poor pitch condition at the National Stadium was the major topic during the Merdeka Tournament. A month later, barren patches appeared on the pitch after the Coldplay concert.
On Dec 4 last year, the furore surrounding the Bukit Jalil National Stadium's pitch caught the attention of JDT owner Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim who 'sponsored' the zeon zoysia pitch, worth RM1.4 million.
Accompanied by four photos on Tunku Ismail's social media page was a caption that read: "Good standard for the final of Malaysia Cup. Looks like your formula is working @hansisaac."
It was unclear whether Tunku Ismail was being sarcastic or complimenting Hans.