Red Devils set to reignite country's sporting image

The Star

Manchester United’s upcoming match in Kuala Lumpur is set to inject millions of ringgit into the Malaysian economy, thanks to its exclusivity and strong regional pull, says organiser ProEvents International Sdn Bhd.   The match against an Asean All-Stars side at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium on May 28 will mark the club’s first appearance in Malaysia in 16 years - and it couldn’t come at a better time, says ProEvents chief executive officer Julian Kam.   WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

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00:00Manchester United is making a historic return to Malaysia, and the impact goes far beyond

00:08football.

00:09The Red Devils will face off against an ASEAN All-Stars side at the Bukit Jalil National

00:14Stadium on May 28, marking the club's first appearance in Malaysia in 16 years.

00:20Pro Events Chief Executive Julian Kam says the event could inject millions of ringgit

00:26into the local economy.

00:27I think the project itself is different because it's after Covid and so many years that we

00:33don't have any events, major football events in Malaysia.

00:37So this is why two years ago we started working on this.

00:42We want to bring something big to Malaysia.

00:48Pro Events is investing approximately US$10 million to organise the match, with estimated

00:55spillover benefits running into the hundreds of millions from spending on hotels, transport,

01:02merchandise and more.

01:04So far, over 55,000 tickets have been sold, with strong demand from regional markets.

01:10We got bulk purchase from India, really big bulk from Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam.

01:19So we are hoping that when a team is here, then people will know the full first team squad

01:27actually here.

01:29Kam says Malaysia once led the region in sports tourism, but has fallen behind in recent years.

01:35Because Malaysia has been doing this heavily in the 90s and early 2000s,

01:45Malaysia has been always the hub for major sporting events.

01:50So we had Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs, Manchester United, all came.

01:57So this is why other countries are actually following.

02:02And they became very, very aggressive, very, very aggressively.

02:07So competition is high?

02:08Yeah, it is.

02:09And then we learned about the ASEAN summit.

02:12So I think it's a good alignment with the government that we bring in the ASEAN all-stars,

02:21to go in line with the country's initiative.

02:26So this is how we came about.

02:29Manchester United's Asia tour includes just two matches,

02:33in Kuala Lumpur on May 28th and Hong Kong on May 30th,

02:38shortly after their final Premier League game on May 25th.

02:41For Kam, this is more than a business venture, it's personal.

02:45It's been 30 years since my first match, since I organised my first match here in Malaysia.

02:52That was against Sri Lanka.

02:54And it is emotional to me because really the heart and effort that I put in for this match,

03:08a lot of people told me to give up, don't do it.

03:12Yes.

03:13But I said, you know, look, I live here.

03:17I live here since the year 2000.

03:19I'm more Malaysian than you think I am.

03:22I really, I really want to bring a good event to Malaysia,

03:28to help Malaysia to, you know, get some exclusivity events to Malaysia.

03:33Come on!

03:35Come on!

03:36Come on!

03:37Come on!

03:38Come support.

03:39Come support Manchester United.

03:41Yes, you met it, Yeah.

03:42Listen, you met it.

03:43Yes.

03:44I do understand what the countries do but where the biggest part is from

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