A Malaysian national footballer sustained second-degree burns after being attacked with acid at a shopping mall over the weekend, according to a sports official.
Faisal Halim, a national team member, was burned on the neck, shoulder, hands, and chest during the attack on Sunday in the Petaling Jaya district outside Kuala Lumpur, according to Najwan Halimi, a sports official in Selangor.
Faisal, 26, is a winger at the Selangor Football Club.
“I strongly condemn this violence and urge the police to bring the perpetrator to justice,” Najwan said in a statement late Sunday.
Selangor Police Chief, Hussein Omar Khan was quoted by private television station, Astro Awani as saying on Monday that a male suspect had been arrested, though he did not disclose a motive.
A photo that went viral online showed a visibly shocked Faisal in brown pants seated on a bench with burn marks on his body.
The attack came three days after another national player, Akhyar Rashid, was injured in a robbery outside his home in the eastern state of Terengganu.
Akhyar, 25, was struck with an iron rod by two unidentified suspects and suffered injuries to his head and leg that required stitches, local media reported.
Local police chief Azli Noor said the suspects fled after taking Akhyar’s money.
Football Association of Malaysia president Hamidin Mohamad Amin said he was “upset and sad” over both attacks.
“The people of Malaysia pray that Akhyar and Faisal recover quickly and get back to action,” he said in a statement on Sunday.
Attacks on football players on and off the pitch are not an unknown phenomenon in the sporting world.
In March, tension escalated at the end of Fenerbahce’s 3-2 victory over Trabzonspor in the Turkish Super Lig.
The disciplinary hearing of the Turkish Football Federation following a bust-up with Trabzonspor fans, the TFF is ongoing.
Home supporters invaded the pitch at Trabzonspor’s stadium after the final whistle of the Super Lig match on March 17 that Fenerbahce won 3-2.
The attacks took place after the Fenerbahce players and coaching staff celebrated their victory, goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic being punched in the face
AFP
