KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – A Malaysian national footballer suffered second-degree burns after he was splashed with acid in an attack at a shopping mall over the weekend, a sports official said.
National team player Faisal Halim was burned on the neck, shoulder, hands and chest during the attack on Sunday in Petaling Jaya district outside the capital Kuala Lumpur, according to sports official in Selangor state Najwan Halimi.
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 on Sunday.
Selangor police chief Hussein Omar Khan was quoted by private television station Astro Awani as saying yesterday that a male suspect had been arrested, though he did not disclose a motive.
A photo went viral online showing 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.
