KUALA LUMPUR: Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh stressed that those interested in applying for the Malaysia Stadium Corporation (MSC) chief executive officer role "must be hardy".
She said a replacement for Faidz Sanusi, whose contract as CEO ran out recently, has yet to be identified.
She welcomed those interested in the job to send in their applications.
"The CEO (Faidz) did not resign, his contract had ended. As a civil servant he has now returned to the civil servant pool," said Yeoh, after the Youth and Sports Ministry's buka puasa event with the media yesterday.
"We have a new chief operating officer now (Iliyas Jamil) but the CEO position is still vacant.
"They (those interested) can send in their curriculum vitaes to us, we are looking (for people).
"They do not have to be civil servants, our COO is also not a civil servant, we conducted interviews to find the most qualified person.
"But the MSC CEO position is a hot seat so whoever wants to apply must be hardy."
While MSC manages various venues and facilities, the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil - home of Harimau Malaya - and its hallowed turf is often the biggest challenge for MSC.
Besides hosting football matches, the National Stadium contributes significant revenue to MSC by hosting concerts. However, the hosting of concerts damages the pitch to a certain extent.
This issue is compounded when concerts are held too close to matches and there is insufficient time for the pitch to be repaired.
New patches of grass transplanted from MSC's nursery need time for their roots to strengthen.
Meanwhile, Yeoh clarified that all decisions concerning the stadium were jointly made by the board.
This includes the appointment of a turf expert from Australia.
"MSC obtained the services of a turf expert from Australia after the Coldplay concert (Nov) and all planning for the turf since after the Ed Sheeran concert (Feb 24) has been monitored by them," she said.
"After this match (Malaysia v Oman yesterday), I will also meet with them to gain their feedback. I want to make sure we continue to make improvements."