I'm afraid so !
Here's how it looks now after removing the cover. MAN it was dirty. I did some basic cleaning, I know you will be replacing it any way.
Indeed, this is the worst of the three panels..


Residue of the plastic cover. Maybe possible to remove with some intense cleaning...but still so many damages....




By the way, if you really want, I will deliver this as a freebee to your purchase:

(or can I bin it right away ?)
No matter what, the whole thing looks a lot better without that ugly cover. Of course there's still the extra hole for the ashtray. They didn't make extra holes for the replacement joystick though. It looks to me this is a Sanwa or some other Jap joystick.