KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia Stadium Corp has made it clear that bringing in crowds to watch matches at stadiums does not fall under the corporation’s purview.
Its response comes after the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) stated that Stadium Corp could have implemented more initiatives to attract and promote more crowds to the Bukit Jalil National Stadium during the FIH Men’s Hockey Junior World Cup.
Speaking to Scoop, Stadium Corp chief executive officer Faidz Sanusi said Stadium Corp has always been active with its social media promotions for local sporting events to help sports associations attract larger crowds.
“Throughout the first week of the Junior World Cup competition, there were also other events happening around the vicinity of the Kuala Lumpur Sports City, such as the Madani Government One-Year Anniversary Programme and the Malaysia Cup final, and there were a lot of (people attending these events).
“The Madani event managed to pull a total of 230,000 people, and the Malaysia Cup final managed to pull an 80,550 crowd, so for MHC to not get their crowd has nothing to do with us.
“We have always been supportive of the Junior World Cup. We have advised the public on how to get to Bukit Jalil to watch the games.
“Even for badminton events, the Badminton Association of Malaysia takes full responsibility and puts it under their purview, and we don’t get involved in coming up with on-ground promotional activities to bring the crowds to the stadium,” said Faidz.
Faidz also said that Stadium Corp is ready to improve its services if MHC is not satisfied with its safety and security measures.
“We are only the venue owner and venue provider, so planning to bring crowds to the stadium has to be done by MHC. Aside from social media promotions, our job is also mainly to provide the event organisers with the necessary police and task forces to ensure that the crowd stays safe during the event.
“We have always worked closely with all the event organisers, and we have always given our best to accommodate their needs. If MHC is not satisfied, we will try to do better after this with their future events,” Faidz added.
A total of 16 teams participated in the 13th edition of the Junior World Cup, which was held from December 5-16 at the Bukit Jalil National Hockey Stadium, with Germany winning their seventh title after defeating France 2-1 in the final.
A total of 6,900 fans had attended the matches at the 12,000-capacity National Hockey Stadium since the commencement of the tournament.
Prior to the tournament, MHC was expecting a 90% attendance at the World Cup through its activation and educational booths around the stadium. – December 22, 2023