Negeri Sembilan’s sporting disgrace: a hockey pitch left to rot

Seremban 2 hockey stadium in Negeri Sembilan faces a major sporting crisis due to its deteriorating main pitch, which has been left to rot for six years. Despite a RM5 million allocation in 2024 to restore the facility, the project has remained stalled, causing inconvenience for clubs, schools and state teams. The only remaining pitch in Seremban 2 now serves these entities, with players from Tampin and Kuala Pilah having to travel to the stadium for training and matches.

The main pitch's abandonment since 2020 has become a threat to the state's hockey tradition, with the youth and sports ministry promising a full rehabilitation in February 2024. However, over two years later, the project remains stalled, with no clear indication of when work will begin or what has happened to the RM5 million allocation.

The hockey community demands a suitably qualified contractor be appointed through a transparent process and a clear completion date. The delay has been attributed to land surveying, changes to specifications, concept design and coordination among stakeholders. However, questions remain as to why a venture funded in 2024 took until late 2025 to reach tender, and why the promised May start has slipped.

The hockey facility's problems extend beyond the main field, with the second Seremban 2 field also suffering from unmet FIH standard floodlights and heavy use. With Tampin and Kuala Pilah adding to the pressure, the single usable pitch in Seremban 2 has become the state's hockey lifeline. The issue goes beyond procurement, revealing a broader governance failure in how the state has allowed its main hockey facility to deteriorate for six years.