ISKANDAR PUTERI: Johor will be building the Lee Chong Wei Inter-national Sports City to develop and nurture future world class badminton players.
Mentri Besar Datuk Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the complex would be built on a 4.77ha lease land owned by the government at Bandar Seri Alam.
He said the project by a private company, costing RM100mil, would have a badminton stadium, dormitory, badminton academy, wellness centre and other sports facilities.
“This will place Johor as one of the main badminton training academies in the world, just like Frederikshavan Badminton Academy in Denmark, Yeomju Gymnasium in Korea, Dongguan LYB Badminton School in China, and Taufik Hidayat Arena in Indonesia,” he said at the state assembly.
He added that an RM89mil Stadium Sport City would be built, next year, in Mount Austin by Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor (KPRJ).
“This new complex will also be a sports and recreation centre for the rakyat as it is an athletics stadium with the capacity for 5,000 people,” he added.
Mohamed Khaled said the state government wanted to put Johor on the global stage through sports and would be allocating RM32.16mil for the development of younger athletes.
He said sports, besides having strategic economic value was important in social development and forging unity.
“This long-term development plan is known as Johor Gemilang 2020 where we will implement the National Blue Ocean strategy which will have the involvement of state government listed companies, local authorities and state Education Department.
“They will become strategic partners to the Johor Sports Council and other sports associations in the state,” he said, adding that this was part of preparations for Johor to host the Malaysia Games (Sukma) 2020.
Mohamed Khaled also said the government would allocate a further RM505,000 for education scholarships to five new athletes under Yayasan Pelajaran Johor.
He added that RM10mil had been allocated for the development of football at the grassroots level.
