Lee Chong Wei International Sports City Can Turn Malaysia's Johor Into World Renown Training Hub For Badminton

KOTA ISKANDAR (Johor, Malaysia), Nov 18 -- Malaysian badminton icon Lee Chong Wei is set to leave a legacy behind even after retiring as the Johor state government has decided to build a sports complex under his name at Bandar Seri Alam, Pasir Gudang, here. Johor Menteri Besar (Chief Minister) Mohamed Khaled Nordin when tabling the 2017 Johor Budget said the sports complex to be named 'Lee Chong Wei International Sports City' would be developed on a 11.18 acre (4.52 hectare) site. Though Mohamed Khaled did not say when the complex would be completed, the construction which is expected to cost about us$22.71 million (RM100 million) would be carried out by a private sector company. He said the complex would have a badminton stadium, hostel, badminton academy, medical facilities and venues for other sports. "The complex will turn Johor into an international training academy for badminton just like the famous Frederikshavan Badminton Academy in Denmark, Yeomju Gymnasium in South Korea, Dongguan LYB Badminton School in China and Taufik Hidayat Arena in Indonesia," he said at the state assembly, here Thursday. Mohamed Khaled said apart from the Lee Chong Wei International Sports City complex, Johor also has plans to build a Sports City Stadium in Mount Austin, Johor Bahru (Johor's capital city). He said the 5,000 capacity Sports City Stadium would be developed by Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor Sdn Bhd (KPRJ) at a cost of US$20.20 million (RM89 million). --BERNAMA