Hand back management of Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium to KLFA - Khalid

KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 (Bernama) -- The Kuala Lumpur Football Association (KLFA) has made a request to Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) - the owner of the KL Football Stadium in Cheras - to return the management rights of the stadium to the association.

Its president Khalid Abdul Samad said the management of the stadium which was taken over by a private company on lease, was deemed unable to deal with various problems related to the pitch and lighting aspects, most notably during the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup last month.

He said if entrusted to manage the stadium, KLFA would ensure that it was well maintained to stage any international football tournament in the future.

"We had to face a challenging situation when at the last minute, an AFC survey found the stadium was not up to mark on matchday.

"Besides that, the pitch was in such an unsatisfactory condition that the KLFA itself had to bring a 'roller' even though the stadium is not under our care.

"The party responsible (the private company) left the stadium in a state which did not meet the standards of organising the tournament," he said at a press conference at the stadium today.

Khalid said immediate action taken by KLFA to rectify the issues when Kuala Lumpur City FC (KL City) hosted the AFC Group H Cup matches had averted an embarrassing situation for the country's football industry.

"So we request DBKL to take back the management of this stadium, or if you wish to hand it over to another party, then rightfully hand it over to KLFA, so we can take care of it," he said.

In the recent AFC Cup, the City Boys emerged runners-up of Group H and secured a place in the semi-finals of the ASEAN zone after beating Singapore club Tampines Rovers 2-1 in the final match of the group at the KL Football Stadium last Thursday.

Indonesian club PSM Makassar topped the group with three teams.

-- BERNAMA