PETALING JAYA: In advance of tomorrow night’s Malaysia Cup final, the Malaysia Stadium Corporation (PSM) has expressed regret over the “unsatisfactory” state of the surface at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.

It said in a statement today that “PSM did not have sufficient time to repair and restore the pitch to its optimum condition following the Coldplay concert held on Nov. 22.”

It stated that it is dedicated to enhancing its standard operating procedures for future stadium event management.

PSM extended its apology not only to the Malaysian Football League (MFL), which oversees the Malaysia Cup, but also to Terengganu FC and Johor Darul Takzim (JDT), tomorrow’s finalists, as well as to their supporters and all supporters of Malaysian football.

Their remarks follow criticism regarding the quality of the pitch made by Johor’s Tunku Mahkota, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, following last month’s record-breaking 75,000-strong Coldplay concert.

Prior to this, PSM had promised that using the field for uses other than football wouldn’t have an impact on its condition

Just 45 minutes into play during the Merdeka Tournament in October, there were pieces of broken grass on the stadium’s recently renovated field between Malaysia and India.

Before the pitch could have been utilized, according to Tunku Ismail, who funded the Zeon Zoysia grass on it, the roots ought to have had two to three months to strengthen.

However, the national team desired to make use of it right now. The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and the stadium management made that decision, he stated.

“If it were up to me, I would have given it more time,” he wrote in response to a post made by X user who had expressed doubts about the pitch’s state.