Singing to the perfect pitch until the cows come home

THE National Stadium at Bukit Jalil was an architectural marvel when it was officially unveiled to the world on Saturday, July 11, 1998, four months ahead of the 16th Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.

Four days after it was launched by the then Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, I was at the stadium watching Watson Nyambek’s 100m record run, stopping the clock at 10.30 seconds for a new national mark.

Since that historic occasion, only two Malaysians – Mohd Azeem Fahmi in 2022 and Khairul Hafiz Jantan in 2016 – had gone faster.

Soon after Watson’s record-breaking run, the first ever Commonwealth Games held in Asia was successfully staged, despite the depressingly long list of star absentees.

The fastest 100m male runner in 1998, Ato Boldon, won the blue-riband dash in 9.88, shattering Linford Christie’s Games record.

The pride of Trinidad and Tobago preened and posed before a stadium crowd of almost 40,000, and kneeled with his head bowed, wiggled his hips and raising his arms with palms open to the sky. He raised the roof with his rock star aura.

The stadium is no doubt the centrepiece of the whole complex which occupies a total of 80 hectares. And the membrane roof of the stadium is perhaps the boon and the bane of the stadium.

Next time you drop by at the stadium you may realise there are 38 trusses stretched between the steel compression ring at the outer edge of the grandstand and the two inner tension rings straddling the columns.

In simpler terms, the significant feature of the 100,000-capacity stadium is its advanced cable-tensioned membrane roof, which comes with a 20-year guarantee.

Due to this design, the pitch does not enjoy direct sunlight.

Despite having hosted football luminaries such as Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo in 2002, Ruud van Nistelrooy and David Beckham in 2001, Nicolas Anelka and Patrick Vieira in 1999, the pitch has elicited scorn, ridicule and memes over the decades.

The latest source of irritation and embarrassment was the dustpans, brooms and what-have-yous sweeping away water from the waterlogged pitch before the AFC Asian Cup 2023 qualifying match between Malaysia and Bahrain in June 2022.

In 2015, the highly anticipated exhibition match between the Malaysian XI and Barcelona was switched at the last minute to the Shah Alam Stadium after the Spanish giants refused to play at Bukit Jalil. It was reported that three Barcelona players were injured while training at the National Stadium, including Lionel Messi.

Just over four years ago, the Stadium Board CEO, Nik Razeen Daud, was quoted as saying home-grown cow grass remained the best species of grass for the stadium.

Cow grass, or axonopus compressus by its scientific name, is not as pretty as its thinner bladed cousins of the Bermuda variety, which was the original species used at the National Stadium.

Razeen, CEO during the chairmanship of the high-profile Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, pointed out that due to the partial roofing, the grass was not exposed to direct sunlight for the required four hours.

As a result, not many species of grass can grow under such conditions.

Ideally, I would urge the Board to make public the findings from independent assessments by two parties – one from Singapore and another from Thailand – which were conducted when Razeen was the CEO.

Apparently the team from Singapore had proposed an artificially-bred Zoysia to replace the cowgrass, taking into consideration the design of the roof and ventilation around the stadium.

If that is the case, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim’s idea in advocating the use of Zeon Zoysia is certainly valid.

The generous benefactor that he is, the Johor Crown Prince and former Football Association of Malaysia president is even willing to fork out his own money to help fund the replacement project.

This pitch issue needs to be laid to rest forever for the National Stadium to regain its stature as the focal point, the hub of the National Sports Complex and above all, the perfect home for our beloved Harimau Malaya.

Otherwise we may continue singing the same song for a perfect pitch until the cows come home! Pun intended.