Rugby’s dream of having own stadium has been fulfilled

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian rugby will finally have a stadium to call their own.

Sports and Youth Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (pic) said work on the stadium will start in November.

“The government have approved a budget of RM17mil for the stadium which will be build on 16 acres of land at Presint 14 in Putrajaya,” said Syed Saddiq yesterday.

“The budget is to build two pitches for training and competitions, floodlight, changing room and other facilities.

“Our ministry is now in the midst of submitting the relevant documents to the Economic Planning Unit and the Ministry of Economic to change the location of the stadium from Kuala Lumpur Sports City to Putrajaya.”

He added that they have also agreed to move up the national women’s rugby sevens team from tier 4 to tier 3.

The women’s sevens team won their first-ever medal, a bronze, at the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games in 2017.

Syed Saddiq said they would now get monthly training allowance plus other benefits.

“We are also committed to carry out intensive training programmes for the women’s team in preparation for the next SEA Games in the Philippines in December.

“I hope they will get release from their employers to train full-time for the Games.

“We always support the involvement of women in sports and we will do what we can to help them,” added Syed Saddiq.

Malaysian Rugby secretary Jamaluddin Salim said they are extremely happy.

“We have been requesting for the stadium for many years now and finally our dream have come true.

“We deserve it as we had won the men’s Asia Rugby Division One title twice (Kuala Lumpur in 2016 and Ipoh in 2017),” said Jamaluddin.