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The Hang Jebat Stadium, located in Krubong or Paya Rumput area of Malacca in Malaysia is a multi-purpose stadium which is primarily used as a football ground for staging the home matches of Melaka United. Hang Jebat Stadium has a capacity of 40,000 seats.
The stadium was also used to host the 2010 Sukma Games and 2010 Malaysia Para Games. It is the main stadium in the Hang Jebat Sports Complex and has the most up to date sports venues within the state of Malacca.
History
The main reason behind the construction of Hang Jebat Stadium was Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali bin Mohd Rustam who happened to be the Chief Minister of Malacca, published a gazette containing 12-sub sectors where sports tourism was one of the sectors that had been enacted.
A world class stadium was required for a fledgling sports tourism which would provide substantial profit to the state of Malacca. Hence, the idea of Hang Jebat Stadium was born and the construction of the stadium was completed in 2004.
The stadium is among the ten largest stadiums of Malaysia in terms of capacity, with the Bukit Jalil Stadium of Kuala Lumpur being the largest with a capacity of 87,411 seats.
Major Matches
Some of the major matches held at the Hang Jebat Stadium were hosted very recently. On 5th October, 2017, the stadium hosted the first leg of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier between Syria and Australia as Iraq could not host it in their country due to war related issues. The match finished 1-1.
Syria played three other 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier games at the Hang Jebat Stadium. The matches against Qatar, China and Uzbekistan were all played at the stadium. Syria had a good record at the stadium as they remained unbeaten in the games played here.
Controversies
The grass pitch at the Hang Jebat Stadium came under much scrutiny before the first leg of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier between Syria and Australia. The pitch was made of cow grass, which is viewed as lower maintenance and more durable than its counterparts, especially in Malaysian climate.
Recent Matches
Barring the recent 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying games played at the stadium, it played host to some international friendlies as well.
A friendly between Syria and Iraq was played in August 2017. The match finished 1-1, with goals from Firas Al-Khatib and Mazen Fayad for Syria and Iraq respectively.
Syria played another friendly with the hosts at the stadium, four days prior to the previous friendly. Syria found themselves as the away team in this friendly at a stadium which has been their home away from home for a large period of time. In the end, they won 2-1.
