Third football player in Malaysia attacked

Former Malaysia skipper Safiq Rahim became the third footballer to be attacked in the past week after he was threatened with a hammer and his car windscreen smashed by two assailants.

Safiq was not injured in the attack late Tuesday in southern Johor state following a training session with JohorDarul Ta’zim, one of Asia’s top clubs run by the crown prince of the Johor royal family.

The 36-year-old midfielder posted a photo of his black Honda with its rear windscreen smashed on Instagram.

“Didn’t expect to be attacked near the Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) training centre. We need to be vigilant,” he wrote in the post.

He also shared a copy of the police report he made on Instagram where he said: “Two men on a motocycle suddenly approached my car armed with a hammer and smashed my rear car windscreen.”

“I stopped the car and I was in fear.”

The incident comes within a week of two other attacks on footballers in the Southeast Asian nation.

Malaysia’s right winger Faisal Halim is in the intensive critical unit with fourth degree burns after being splashed with acid at the weekend outside the capital Kuala Lumpur.

Police are investigating the motive for the attack.

His team mate Akhyar Rashid was injured in a robbery outside his home in the eastern state of Terengganu last week.

Kuala Terengganu police chief Azli Mohamad Noor has said both incidents were unrelated. 

Football Association of Malaysia president Hamidin Mohamad Amin on Tuesday urged high-profile footballers to take precautions about their personal safety, including hiring bodyguards.

Malaysian football had its glory days in the 1970s and 1980s and achieved its highest-ever ranking of 73 in 1993.