KUALA LUMPUR: The National Stadium in Bukit Jalil is 90 per cent ready to hold the 2023 Malaysia Cup final on Friday even though the venue has been receiving criticism on the quality of the pitch after pictures of the field went viral on social media.
The latest development was confirmed by a source of Perbadanan Stadium Malaysia (PSM) who informed that maintenance works especially on the field has been actively going on in the past two weeks as preparation for the final.
According to the source, PSM with the Malaysia Football League and several other parties conducted inspection of the pitch surface to check the level of its readiness yesterday.
"Now all are ready, today is just touching up and drawing lines, tomorrow we will erect the goal posts. Latest pictures of work at field also went viral.
"We will ensure the surface is playable for Malaysia Cup final and we will ensure the best condition of the pitch for the match," he said when contacted by Bernama today.
Commenting further, the source said there were no discussions on changing the venue of Malaysia Cup final ever since the pitch issue went viral.
On Monday, the surface of the National Stadium field went viral and it even received the attention of Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) owner Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim who uploaded the condition of the official venue of Harimau Malaya which appeared affected in the Tunku's social media sites.
This is the second time in about two weeks Tunku Ismail uploaded the condition of the field at the National Stadium with the first time two days after the Coldplay concert was held at the stadium on Nov 22.
As a record, Tunku Ismail presented Zeon Zoysia grass for the National Stadium which was planted this year.
The 2023 Malaysia Cup will be a clash between three-time champion and defending champion JDT and Terengganu FC who are gunning for their second title after their last victory in 2001.– BERNAMA