KUALA LUMPUR: The organisers of the upcoming concert by Taiwanese superstar Jay Chou had booked the Bukit Jalil National Stadium as the concert venue almost four years ago.
Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh, in a tweet today, sought to clear the air over the clash between the concert and the 2022 AFF Cup semi-finals, which will take place at the same stadium.
She said the concert organisers had booked the venue in 2019.
"The stadium booking for the Jay Chou World Tour concert was done on March 13, 2019.
"The FAM (Football Association of Malaysia), meanwhile, booked the venue on Aug 18, 2022," she said.
Yeoh said the concert organisers and its 685-strong crew need 14 days to set up the stage. The setup will involve 45 heavy machines, 200 speakers and 800 lights.
"They have already delayed the setup by two-and-a-half days to make room for the AFF match," she said.
Controversy had erupted over the use of the stadium. The setup for the concert means that 21,000 seats would be unusable for the clash between Malaysia and Thailand.
A number of Harimau Malaya fans had taken to social media to air their grievances on the issue, and even bombarded Chou's social media pages, asking him to postpone his concert.
Chou's concert was initially supposed to take place in 2020 but was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The concert by the renowned Taiwanese singer is set to be held at the National Stadium on Jan 15 while the football match will take place on Saturday.