THE pitch is the main stage of any football stadium.
It is the theatre for the superstars to entertain us mere mortals with their skills, theatrics, heartbreaks and occasional absurdity, no matter where you are.
Suffice to say, a good and playable pitch is fundamental to the appearance, performance and reputation of the entire venue.
Modern fields have become very technical and use mostly natural grass and artificial fibre to anchor the roots.
No longer do we see dry spots or muddy patches anymore on football pitches, except maybe in Malaysia and a few other countries.
If my memory serves me right, the turfgrass at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil - a topic of national conversation during the recent Merdeka Tournament - has undergone changes five times since its inauguration in 1998.
Then Youth and Sports Ministers have come to serve the portfolio and oversee the Stadium Board, an agency in charge of managing the stadium under the auspices of the Ministry, without having been able to settle the issue once and for all.
The pitch has been re-turfed from the original Bermudagrass to seashore paspalum in 2005, back to Bermuda Princess in 2014, then to cowgrass in 2015 and now Zeon Zoysia in 2023.
In 2005, this scribe wrote about the decision by the Stadium Board to pick seashore paspalum to replace the original Bermudagrass on the basis that it was more durable, required low maintenance and had a soft, cushiony feel.
For comparison, I conducted my own investigation. The only two known football pitches in the country with paspalum surface were not exactly pitch perfect.
One field at a residential area in Taman Batu Muda, which was opened in 2004, was found to be uneven with several bare patches.
Whether it was due to poor maintenance or poor choice of turf was subject to debate.
The public pitch was one of the three training venues for the then Premiership outfit Kuala Lumpur apart from the Kuala Lumpur Stadium in Bandar Tun Razak and the City Hall Sports Club Ground at Jalan Tun Sambanthan.
At the time of writing then, works to lay the same turf on another public pitch at the Metropolitan Park near Kepong started seven months earlier but it was yet to be handed over to Kuala Lumpur City Hall.
A few turf consultants I spoke to pointed out the enclosed nature of the stadium prevented certain areas of the pitch from getting direct sunlight.
The significant feature of the 100,000-capacity stadium is its advanced cable-tensioned membrane roof. Due to this design, the pitch does not enjoy the required minimum of at least four hours of direct sunlight.
It also restricts the natural air movement or ventilation through the stadium bowl and over the pitch.
Both these factors are detrimental to the growth of natural grass. However, it can be mitigated by the choice of turf and other design factors, such as the inclusion of translucent panels in the stadium roof and the usage of grow lights to compensate for the lack of natural sunlight, as acknowledged by the Stadium Board in its reaction to public criticism of the pitch following the encounter between Malaysia and India.
It is also natural whether it was paspalum, Zoysia or bermudagrass, the decision makers will insist that the merits and demerits of the various types of grass were discussed in-depth before a final decision was made.
In less than a month, the 2026 FIFA World Cup-2027 AFC Asian Cup second-round qualifiers’ opening Group D match between Malaysia and Kyrgyzstan will take place.
The venue has been confirmed at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
But looking at the present condition, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) may want to consider giving the Stadium Board more breathing space to deliver a pitch of the desired quality and of international standard.
Head coach Kim Pan-gon may have to entertain the idea of making the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium an alternative venue.
By the time the Harimau Malaya return from the AFC Asian Cup finals in Doha in January 2024, we pray that the pitch at the National Stadium will be ready, befitting its stature as the home of the Malaysian national football team.
This time, no excuses and finger-pointing please.
