KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysia Rugby Union (MRU) is looking to negotiate with the Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) about reviving the cancelled RM17 million Rugby Sports Complex, originally planned for construction in Precinct 13, Putrajaya.
According to the rugby national body, KBS has returned the allocated RM17 million budget for the development of the sports complex back to the Finance Ministry.
Speaking to Scoop, MRU secretary-general Fahmy Jalil said that KBS’ decision was due to the project’s expected budget exceeding the government’s initial plan.
“This was a shock for us as we were expecting the project to take off as promised. We were very excited as it was supposed to be the country’s first rugby sports complex.
“The sports complex would have been useful for us as we were planning to telecast our domestic matches, and the ground would have been beneficial for our players’ training and game preparation.
“We don’t understand why the government now says that the 16 acres of land are not suitable for the construction of the sports complex.
“But we do understand that the government is planning to cut costs by cancelling the project as the expenses are escalating.
“However, we are not planning to give up on this matter. We will be discussing with the Youth and Sports Minister (Hannah Yeoh), the National Sports Council director-general (Abdul Rashid Yaakub), and the Olympic Council of Malaysia president (Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria) for a solution and alternative on this matter,” said Fahmy
Fahmy is one of the two remaining members, along with the newly appointed MRU president Amir Amri Mohamad, from the previous leadership.
The association underwent a change in leadership during the MRU annual general meeting and elections in Kuala Lumpur in December, with Fahmy and Amir serving as executive committee members in the previous regime under the leadership of former president Datuk Shahrul Zaman Yahaya.
Fahmy said that the new leadership vows to run the association much better than the previous administration and aims to make the association more accountable and transparent.
“We are a new team, and we aim to complete the works that have been hanging in the balance over the years.
“Our primary goal for now is to come up with more initiatives to give more exposure to our players and develop programmes to continue promoting and raising awareness about the sport across the nation.
“We have been hit badly with several issues in the past, but we want to move on from it and aim to be a reputable association.
“We will be having an annual general meeting on January 2, and we will be working on plans to reach our all-time goal, which is to make Malaysia qualify for the Rugby World Cup in 2031,” Fahmy added.
MRU faced controversy in December last year when they discovered that an administrative staff member had allegedly embezzled a large amount of money from the national body, with withdrawals exceeding RM1 million since 2019.
The case has been under police investigation since August this year.
In 2015 , former sports minister Khairy Jamaluddin initially came up with the plan to construct the first national rugby complex in Putrajaya, but the project didn’t materialise due to unknown reasons.
Construction plans was once again brought to life by KBS after the national rugby squad excelled in Division 1 of the 2016 Asian Rugby Championship and won the gold medal at the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games a year later.
In 2019, Precinct 13 in Putrajaya was chosen as the location for the construction of the 5,000-seat capacity national rugby complex, estimated to cost RM17 million.
It was also supposed to be part of the Sultan Ahmad Shah Soccer City development, scheduled for completion by the third quarter of 2022.
Construction work began in September 2020, but the seating capacity was reduced to 1,250 from the original figure of 5,000 due to delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. – December 31, 2023