MRU to meet minister on site for rugby stadium

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Rugby Union (MRU) president Datuk Shahrul Zaman Yahya plans to meet Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman next week to get a final decision on where to build the proposed rugby stadium.

MRU want it to be built at Precinct 14, Putrajaya, while the ministry wants it to be constructed around the Kuala Lumpur Sports City in Bukit Jalil.

“At our last meeting with the minister, we told him it was more strategic to build it in Bukit Jalil as it will be near to the National Sports Council (NSC) and National Sports Institute (NSI).

“The only setback about building it in Bukit Jalil is that we will have only one pitch, compared to two if it’s constructed in Putrajaya. One pitch can be used for the game and the other one for warming up,” he said after attending the MCKK 2019 Premier Rugby 7s Championships press conference at the Malay College Old Boys Association Building here yesterday.

He also clarified that the new stadium would only be able to accommodate between 5,000 and 10,000 supporters, making it suitable for domestic and friendly matches.

However, international-level tournaments, like the Asia Rugby Championship and Premier Rugby League which were held last year, will still be played at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.

Shahrul Zaman also said that under the previous government, the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) had agreed to allocate RM10 million for the construction of the rugby stadium.

Apart from the stadium issue, MRU also hope to get a clearer picture of the kind of support they can expect from the ministry, especially for the women’s rugby squad.

“The men’s 7s rugby team are fine as they have the full support of the ministry and NSC by virtue of being gold medallists at the previous SEA Games.

“The women’s squad, who won a bronze in the 2017 SEA Games, do not get full assistance, so perhaps NSC can help in terms of financing their overseas stints. Overall, we want to discuss again with the minister on the direction the ministry and NSC are taking in helping sports associations like ours,” he said. - Bernama