Football: mysterious serial attacks on footballers in Malaysia

Who blames footballers in Malaysia? In less than seven days, three players were attacked for reasons that remain unknown. Selangor FC winger Faisal Halim remains in intensive care with fourth-degree burns after being doused with acid at a shopping mall last weekend. Before the attack, another Malaysian national team player, Akhyar Rashid, was beaten with an iron bar by two people who stole money from him outside his home in the eastern state of Terrenganu.

And since then, former Malaysian international Safiq Rahim, who plays for Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT), the reigning champion club that Selangor FC was due to face on Friday, was threatened on Tuesday with a hammer by two men who made shatter the rear window of his car.

The motives for the attacks are not known, and police are still investigating whether they are linked, but they have already prompted Malaysian Football Association president Hamidin Mohamad Amin to urge the country's best-known footballers to take action. precautions to ensure their safety, including hiring bodyguards.

Consequences of these attacks, one of the best football clubs in the country, announced that it would not participate in the Charity Shield, the match which was to kick off the season on Friday, after a series of attacks targeting players in recent days in the country. “After a great moment of reflection, and after discussing it with all parties, the club has regretfully decided not to participate” in the match, Selangor FC wrote in a press release.

The match scheduled for Friday between JDT and Selangor, which finished 2nd in the last championship, should not take place, Stuart Ramalingam, president of the Malaysian Football League, confirmed to AFP. “But all the other matches will take place. No other club has asked to postpone a match or announced that it would not play.

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