Malaysia’s season-opening Charity Shield cancelled after top club withdraws over assaults, acid attacks on players
- Faisal Halim suffered fourth-degree burns following incident at the weekend outside the capital, Kuala Lumpur
- Teammate Akhyar Rashid also injured in robbery outside his home in eastern state of Terengganu last week
Malaysia’s season-opening Charity Shield match has been cancelled after Selangor FC withdrew over safety concerns following a series of attacks on players over the past week, the Malaysian Football League (MFL) said on Thursday.
The club’s opponents, Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT), have been awarded a 3-0 win.
Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care with fourth-degree burns after being splashed with acid at 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.
And in the latest incident on Tuesday, JDT’s former Malaysia skipper Safiq Rahim escaped unharmed after he was threatened with a hammer and his car windscreen was smashed by two assailants on his way home from a training session.
Selangor, one of Malaysia’s top clubs, had called for Friday’s match against JDT to be postponed but the MFL said the game would go ahead after receiving a security guarantee from police.
