[Photo: The Sultan Mizan Stadium site was being used by young couples for romantic interludes until the religious authorities got wind of their actions.]

THE Love Games at Terengganu's Sultan Mizan Stadium have ended.

Among the main events that took place at the "contact sports" extravaganza were smooching, hugging and groping.

And a record was also created - the most number of cars and motorcycles parked at a stadium that is in ruins.

The "closing ceremony" of the games at the RM300 million (S$123 million) stadium in Gong Badak was performed by the state's religious authorities.

You won't get any medals for guessing who were the winners at the end of the day (or is that night?), but yes, it was the religious authorities themselves.

They emerged victors with their diligence and smart thinking to outdo their rivals - the numerous lovebirds who used to throng the stadium site for late night trysts.

The spanking new stadium was closed indefinitely after its roof collapsed on June 2. Except for the occasional track events, the once brightly lit stadium was for all intents and purposes deemed unusable.

But many young couples had other ideas. They decided that the stadium premises were an excellent venue for other kinds of physical activities.

This was until the religious authorities got wind of their actions and were in no mood to be a good sport. Thus, they ended the amorous couples' liaisons abruptly recently.

The authorities smelled a rat when too many cars and motorcycles were seen entering the stadium during the night and decided to check up on the sudden influx of traffic there.

To their surprise, they found several couples in compromising positions.

State Religious and Information Committee chairman Khazan Che Mat said on Sunday that a dozen couples were caught for close proximity at the site during follow-up operations.

He said the couples had thought they could evade the enforcement officers from the State Religious Department but the officers outsmarted them.

He said officers found it unusual that the popular Teluk Ketapang beachfront, where many a couple had been nabbed previously, had suddenly become deserted.

This, he said, tipped them off that the couples had found an alternative site to evade the authorities.

Khazan said religious enforcement officers had been directed to intensify surveillance at abandoned sites following this latest development.

With such dogged determination by the authorities, it seems unlikely that such events will be held at the stadium again anytime soon.