[5] It was officially inaugurated by then Prime Minister of Malaysia Mahathir Mohamad on 11 July 1998 ahead of the 1998 Commonwealth Games and staged its opening ceremony.

[4][6] Since then, it has also become the main venue for other international multi-sport events such as the 2001 Southeast Asian Games and the 2017 Southeast Asian Games,[7] and nowadays hosts most Malaysian international football matches, national level football competition finals such as the Malaysia FA Cup, Malaysia Cup, athletic events and music concerts.

It was built by United Engineers Malaysia, Bhd and designed by Arkitek FAA.

Project 1 (Phase 1) has been completed ahead and for the 2017 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, with a new Populous-designed facade that covers the exterior of the stadium with twisted vertical louvres which are also LED-lighted,[10] as well as recolouring the seats to a yellow-black design and upgraded facilities.

[11] On 18 February 2020 to prevent another issue regarding the football pitch again in the future, the Malaysian Stadium Corporation (PSM) and Malaysia Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) plan to upgrade the pitch from cow grass to zeon zoysia grass with an estimated cost of RM10 Million.