JOHOR BARU: The namesake for the newly-opened indoor training centre for Johor football was given the honour to officially open the facility at Padang Seri Gelam, here today.
Former Johor FA deputy president and team manager, Datuk Suleiman Mohd Noor, who is known as the father of Johor football was grateful beyond words when he cut the ribbon to mark the opening of the RM18 million indoor training centre.
"I feel happy and grateful beyond words as this is the highest honour that has ever been given to me.
"I feel so proud as I never dreamed that such a thing could happen to me, nor did I ever guess that we will get this far," said Suleiman.
He stood next to the Regent of Johor, Tunku Ismail Sultan Iskandar at the opening ceremony of the new facility, which was officially christened as the "Dato' Suleiman Mohd Noor Indoor Training Centre" yesterday.
Suleiman sang praises for Tunku Ismail by saying that the Darul Ta'zim or JDT team, which is owned by Tunku Ismail has laid a strong foundation for Johor's football development.
"We can't deny that Tunku Ismail has the charisma of a great leader. It has been three years since Tunku Ismail took over the helm in managing Johor's football, and we can see the changes especially for football development at the grassroots," Suleiman said.
Tunku Ismail had announced two weeks ago that the Indoor Training Centre would be named after Suleiman as recognition for the latter's contributions to the state's football development in the 1980s and 1990s.
Suleiman was Johor FA team manager in the same year when Johor won the Malaysia Cup and League Cup in 1991.
The idea of establishing the indoor training centre was Tunku Ismail's, who personally looked into the design of the indoor synthetic field measuring 16m by 109.2m.
After its design plans were approved in Dec 24, 2014, a ground-breaking ceremony by Tunku Ismail's sister, Tunku Tun Aminah Sultan Ibrahim was held on Jan 1, 2015.
The Dato' Suleiman Mohd Noor Indoor Training Centre is the first facility of its kind in Southeast Asia as it is built according to Fifa specifications.
The project was funded by Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd under its corporate social responsibility programme.