KUALA LUMPUR, August 13 — The organiser of the Barcelona FC versus Malaysia XI match was fully aware of the Bukit Jalil National Stadium's (SNBJ) poor pitch condition, its operator Malaysian Stadium Corporation (PSM) said today in an apparent attempt to deflect accusations that it had botched up the much anticipated event.

What was expected to be a match of their lives turned sour after fans were forced to make a last minute switch to the Shah Alam Stadium some 50km away from the original location after the Barcelona team had allegedly refused to play at SNBJ due to the pitch condition.

PSM Chairman Datuk Rozabil Abdul Rahman said news about SNBJ's deplorable pitch condition is already out in the open with the event organiser having full knowledge of the situation.

“We cannot refuse event organisers who insist on holding their functions in our venue if the stadium is vacant at the time.

“But any event organiser should know about the state of our pitch as well as the plans that we have lined up for it especially when it has been so well-reported in the past and that we have been very open about it,” Rozabil said in a statement.

The fiasco had fans, many whom had paid as high as RM500 for a ticket, fuming with many taking on social media to criticise the organiser as well as PSM for crashing what would be an historic night for Malaysian football.

Barcelona FC is currently considered the best football club in the world and features in its lineup some of the game's best players including four time world best player Lionel Messi and Spanish World Cup Winners Xavi and Andres Iniesta.

In an immediate response to the debacle, Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin criticised the organiser, saying the mishap could have been avoided if the organiser had taken a hands-on approach.

It was reported that the organiser made no inspection of the pitch prior to the match.

Fans and critics, however, insisted that PSM should also be held responsible.

SNBJ's pathetic pitch condition has been a longstanding problem with PSM having shown no real effort to rectify the issue, many have charged.

There were also allegations that PSM was more interested in making profits when news that it was more than happy to rent out the stadium for non-football events which fans say would hamper efforts to fix the field.

One such event is the upcoming concert by world rock giant Linkin Park on August 19, just a month away before the Malaysian national team faces a crucial pre-qualifying match for the Asian Cup against Bahrain.

But Rozabil dismissed the accusation, saying the events are scheduled properly to enable maintenance works to take place while insisting that the concert will not affect the grass quality.

“But just to clarify about the certain points raised in the articles, non-footballing activities are allowed to be held in BJNS depending on the time apart from each activity to enable maintenance works to take place,” he said.

“We have also ensured that the other activities such as concerts do not affect the quality of the grass on the pitch by making sure that the stage is built on the running track and not the field. The spectators however are allowed to be on the field on the condition that the organisers use a special field cover provided by us so that participants do not step on the grass”.

Rozabil revealed that PSM is already in talks with the Malaysian Football Association (FAM) about having the Bahrain match transferred to a different location.

It also proposed a complete closure of SNBJ for pitch reparation efforts immediately after the Linkin Park concert.