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

 Six years of neglect have left one overworked pitch carrying hockey in the state while a RM5 million upgrade remains stalled.

The deteriorating surface of the main pitch at the Seremban 2 hockey stadium is a stark symbol of Negeri Sembilan’s failure to restore a key hockey facility. (James D’Cruz pic)

SEREMBAN:

For six years, Negeri Sembilan’s premier hockey venue has been left unusable while the state struggles to sustain its development programme.

A RM5 million allocation in 2024 promised to restore the facility, but more than two years later, the project remains stalled.

With the main venue in a state of disrepair, the burden has fallen on the only remaining hockey pitch in Seremban 2.

The second field at the Tan Sri Mohd Said Hockey Stadium now serves clubs, schools and state teams.

Players from both Tampin and Kuala Pilah have had to travel to Seremban 2 for training and matches, as the SMK Tunku Besar and SMK Zaba pitches undergo upgrading.

Both schools have a rich history of developing hockey players, making the loss of their facilities more than a temporary inconvenience.

For a state with such a proud hockey tradition, the strain on its playing infrastructure is becoming a threat to the next generation.

What should be a foundation for development is instead becoming a constraint.

The main Seremban 2 field has been abandoned since 2020 after heavy wear and damage affected its artificial turf, drainage and floodlighting.

In February 2024, the youth and sports ministry allocated RM5 million for a full rehabilitation, including new synthetic turf, repairs to the underground drainage system and upgraded floodlights.

The ministry called the tender on Dec 24, 2025, and closed it on Feb 12 this year. In January, it said construction should begin in May, subject to evaluation and the appointment of a contractor.

That deadline has passed, with no clear indication of whether a contractor has been appointed, when work will begin or what has happened to the RM5 million allocation.

Upgrading work has displaced Tampin’s hockey players to Seremban, adding to the strain on the state’s only usable pitch. (Nishel Kumar pic)

The hockey community says the authorities must ensure that a suitably qualified contractor is appointed through a transparent process.

If one has already been selected, the delay should be explained and a firm completion date provided.

The ministry has attributed the delay to land surveying, changes to specifications, concept design and coordination among stakeholders.

Those may be necessary steps in a public project. They do not explain why a venture funded in 2024 took until late 2025 to reach tender, or why the promised May start has slipped.

Questions to the ministry, the Public Works Department (PWD), Seremban City Council and the Negeri Sembilan Hockey Association (NSHA) have produced little answers.

Meanwhile, the consequences are being felt across the state.

The state league provides the clearest measure. It did not run from 2019 to 2024 because the main stadium could not host it.

When competition resumed last year, organisers had to use the second Seremban 2 field.

Seen from the stands, the abandoned pitch at Seremban 2 presents an unflattering picture of a facility that has been left to deteriorate for six years. (James D’Cruz pic)

A tournament that normally takes about two months instead ran from June to November because the same surface also had to accommodate the rest of the state’s hockey programme.

With Tampin and Kuala Pilah adding to the pressure, that field has become the state’s hockey lifeline.

But even it has a problem. Its floodlights are understood not to meet the required FIH standard, while questions have also arisen over its heavy use.

The equation is stark: one unusable main field, district facilities under upgrading and a single Seremban surface carrying the overflow.

Who owns the problem?

This is where the issue moves beyond turf and tenders.

The ministry provides the funding, PWD implements the project, the city council has jurisdiction over the stadium, while NSHA is responsible for developing hockey in the state.

Yet NSHA says it was not consulted about the upgrade, including the tender evaluation process.

There is no suggestion that NSHA should decide which contractor wins a government tender. Procurement must follow proper rules.

But choosing a contractor and determining what a hockey facility needs are not the same thing.

Was NSHA consulted on the turf specification? Was it asked what level of competition the venue should support? What lighting standard should apply? What do clubs, schools and state teams need from the rebuilt facility?

The issue is particularly awkward because NSHA’s president and deputy president are the menteri besar and Seremban mayor respectively.

That leaves an uncomfortable contradiction: the people at the top of the state administration and city council also occupy the two senior positions in the association responsible for developing hockey, yet NSHA says it was not consulted on the restoration.

How does a state allow its main hockey facility to deteriorate for six years, then take more than two years from funding to a stalled project, while the association responsible for the sport says it was not consulted?

That makes this more than a procurement issue. It is ultimately a test of governance.

For much of the period during which the main field deteriorated, the menteri besar was Aminuddin Harun.

That does not establish that Aminuddin or the mayor caused the delay. It does, however, make the absence of a clear explanation difficult to accept.

Nor is the answer simply to argue over whether the federal government or the state should take control.

What matters is whether the system can produce a functioning facility and identify who is accountable when it fails.

The RM5 million must deliver more than a new surface. The rebuilt venue should have the drainage, lighting and turf standards required for the competitions Negeri Sembilan hopes to host.

Just as important, maintenance must be high priority once the work is completed. Otherwise, the state risks spending millions only to restart the same cycle.

The cost is already visible. A state league that once took two months now takes five. Players travel between districts to find usable facilities. One field carries a workload meant for several.

And a state with a proud hockey tradition is struggling to provide enough playing space for the next generation.

The new state administration should now force the agencies involved to publish a firm timetable, clarify their respective responsibilities and ensure NSHA has a meaningful voice on the sporting requirements of the facility.

Most of all, it should make clear who is answerable for the outcome.

Negeri Sembilan does not need another promise that its hockey infrastructure will be fixed. It needs a date when players can finally walk back onto the main field. - FMT