One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country.
It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry.
Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.”
Photo: AFP
Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care with fourth-degree burns after being splashed with acid on the weekend outside the capital, Kuala Lumpur.
His Malaysia teammate Akhyar Rashid was injured in a robbery outside his home in the eastern state of Terengganu last week.
In the latest incident on Tuesday, JDT’s former Malaysia skipper Safiq Rahim escaped unharmed after he was threatened with a hammer and the windscreen of his vehicle was smashed by two assailants.
Selangor said they had withdrawn from the match against Malaysian Super League champions JDT at Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Johor State’s Iskandar Puteri.
“After much deliberation ... the club has reluctantly decided to not participate,” Selangor said in a statement on Wednesday. “The safety of the team is of utmost importance and we take all forms of violence and threats seriously”.
The team were runners-up in last year’s Super League.
Malaysian Football League chief executive officer Stuart Ramalingam said that the game would not be played.
“Yes, likely, since Selangor has confirmed they won’t attend,” Ramalingam told reporters yesterday, but added that he expected the five opening league fixtures tomorrow and on Sunday to go ahead.
“There are no other clubs that have asked for postponement or indicated they don’t want to play,” he said.
JDT chief executive officer Alistair Edwards appealed for Selangor to reverse their decision.
“We vehemently condemn the incident involving Faisal Halim and the alleged threats ... but we hope Selangor FC can reconsider their decision to withdraw from the match,” Edwards said in a statement on Wednesday.
Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah expressed his support for the team’s withdrawal and criticized the league for refusing a request to postpone the game.
“His majesty said the priority at the moment is the lives and safety of the players, and not to win the cup,” the Selangor royal office said in a statement.
Selangor on Wednesday launched a campaign opposing violence before the team withdrew, calling on the public to combat the assaults on players.
Authorities have yet to establish any motives for the attacks.
“It has never happened in the history of Malaysian football,” Football Association of Malaysia president Hamidin Mohamad Amin said.
Faisal was in a critical condition in hospital after the acid attack and was to undergo a skin graft, media reported.
Nicknamed “Mickey,” the 26-year-old plays on the right wing for club and country.
He grabbed national headlines when he scored in a shock 3-3 draw against South Korea in the Asian Cup in January.
The third victim, 36-year-old Safiq, plays for JDT.
Mohamad Shuhaily Mohamad Zain, the director of the police criminal investigation department, said it was yet to be determined if the attacks were linked, but they all involved two people who had followed the players.
Two suspects were arrested in relation to the attack on Faisal, he said.
One had been freed with the other still being questioned, he added.
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