KUALA LUMPUR – Rugby’s future in Malaysia appears bleak as the sport still lacks a dedicated home despite ongoing discussions between the Malaysia Rugby Union (MRU) and the Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS).
MRU secretary-general Fahmy Jalil told Scoop that there has been no confirmation from Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh regarding the promised sports complex, initially planned for construction in Precinct 13, Putrajaya.
Earlier, Scoop reported that MRU sought to renegotiate with KBS to revive the RM17 million Rugby Sports Complex project, which was abandoned after the ministry returned the allocated budget to the Finance Ministry.
“We have been advocating for this rugby complex since it was promised, but there has been no progress from the ministry.
“Without it, we spend approximately RM100,000 annually to train at public university facilities like Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM).
“As a governing body, our dream is to have our own complex, free from reliance on external facilities. I don’t know when this will happen, but I hope the ministry reconsiders because this was a promise made to us, not something we requested,” said Fahmy when contacted.
Despite the setbacks, Fahmy expressed MRU’s determination to move forward.
“We firmly believe there’s always light at the end of the tunnel and we are committed to finding solutions.
“For now, our priority is organising the annual Agong Cup, excelling in the 2027 Rugby World Cup qualifiers, the 2025 Bangkok SEA Games, and preparing for other tournaments once the rugby calendar is finalised,” he added.
The plan for a national rugby complex was first proposed by then-sports minister Khairy Jamaluddin in 2015 but failed to materialise due to unknown reasons.
The project was then brought to life following the national rugby team’s success in Division 1 of the 2016 Asian Rugby Championship and their gold medal win at the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games.
In 2019, Precinct 13 in Putrajaya was chosen as the site for a 5,000-seat national rugby complex costing RM17 million.
The project was also supposed to be part of the Sultan Ahmad Shah Soccer City development, scheduled for completion by the third quarter of 2022.
Construction began in September 2020 but has since been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which reduced the planned seating capacity to 1,250. — January 7, 2025
