KUALA LUMPUR: Tunku Mahkota Johor Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim will sponsor the cost of planting new grass at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.

       The owner of the Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) football club explained that the Zeon Zoysia type grass was a gift to the national team, also known as Harimau Malaya.

       TMJ announced this in a statement on the official JDT Facebook page, Johor Southern Tigers.

       It is also the same type of grass used in the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium owned by JDT.

       “I have instructed the JDT management to assist the Perbadanan Stadium Malaysia to ensure that the National Stadium has a quality field suitable for international football matches.

       "However, I would like to ask the stadium authorities to ensure that the field is well maintained, and usage for non-sport purposes only accepted if appropriate measures are taken to ensure that the field is not damaged," he said.

       The National Stadium will be used as a venue for the 2023 Asian Cup qualifiers in June after the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) picked Malaysia as one of the six host countries for the tournament.