Has the Malaysian Super League become super unsafe?

The Malaysian football fraternity, still reeling from the shock of unprecedented attacks on three national players in a spate of six days, is fiercely divided over the motive behind such barbaric acts.

The brutal attacks on football celebrities Faisal Halim, who was splashed with acid at a mall in the Klang Valley, Akhyar Rashid, who was assaulted with iron rods and robbed in Terengganu, and Safiq Rahim, who had his car damaged in Johor Bahru, are popularly believed to be the concerted efforts of a bookie syndicate.

Now, that would be the most expected motive, given Malaysian football’s track record with match fixing, and its intimate relationship with bookie syndicates that has lasted longer than many marriages here.

I would have gladly subscribed to that deduction if not for two factors. One, the Malaysian Super League hasn’t kicked off yet, unless the point of contention here for the syndicate was Malaysia’s 3-3 draw with South Korea in the Asian Cup in Doha, where Faisal nailed the award-winning and inspiring equaliser at 1-1.

Secondly, this is not the modus operandi of bookies, for whom match-fixing and betting is a business. If a syndicate had incurred financial loss on account of players not fulfilling their immoral obligations, it would simply try to recover it from them in other matches. Inflicting grave bodily harm will be counterproductive to that cause.

And it would also be totally uncharacteristic of a bookie syndicate to warn Selangor FC CEO Johan Kamal Hamidon, a day after Faisal’s attack, that he too could be the victim of an acid attack if he wasn’t careful. That’s not how they operate.

But I’m still trying to wrap my head around the apparent attack on JDT’s Safiq, or rather on his non-luxury car. Safiq came off without a scratch on him, while his car, which had its rear windscreen smashed by a hammer, looked like it had come out of a demolition derby.

The only thing common in the pattern of attacks in the JB incident was that, there were two perpetrators on a motorcycle. Period. And the suspicion is that, this purported attack on Safiq in JB, looked like it was an afterthought, to throw many off the scent.

Then there is this theory attributing the attacks to the wrath of the “Ah Longs”. This would be a popular assumption for motive, as these loan sharks are precariously intertwined within the fibre of Malaysian life.

But again, this is not the modus operandi of Ah Longs whose “clients” are mainly small business operators, like stall owners. And they have their own unique ways of recovering debts from bad paymasters, which normally doesn’t involve violence, least of all, acid attacks.

What they want is repayment, and they will “remind” you of it by harassing relatives or members of your family, or by throwing red paint on your car, your house and even your neighbour’s house, using humiliation as a motivation for repayment.

And it can’t be a jealous husband, jilted wife, or lover, because there are three players in this equation, and it will be too much of a co-incidence for three national players to be suffering the consequences of relationship breakdowns, all at the same time.

Which brings us to the more plausible theory – jealous and overzealous rival fans.

Inarguably, Faisal is the hottest and most sought-after property in Malaysian football to date, and needless to say, a player like him will feature prominently in the resurrection of Selangor FC as a powerhouse.

And the orchestrators of these attacks probably didn’t wish to see Selangor back at the helm of Malaysian football, especially after the balance of power had emphatically shifted to the Southern Tigers, who have ruled virtually unchallenged for 10 years now.

Whatever the theory and motive, these brutal attacks have shaken up the football fraternity, especially Selangor FC, who had refused to make the trip to JB for their Charity Shield match against JDT out of sheer fear for the safety of their players.

That this decision was wholesomely supported by Selangor ruler, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, is testimony to the outspoken ruler’s disdain for such cowardly acts by ruthless Malaysians.

My journalistic instincts tell me Selangor FC would have played in the Charity Shield match if it was at the Bukit Jalil Stadium, instead of at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium, the home ground of JDT.

But seriously, what is this country coming to, when even sports is no longer a safe haven, and when it has become necessary for some celebrity sportsmen to consider engaging personal bodyguards for their safety.

A dangerous precedent has been set. Will celebrity sportsmen and women be assaulted next for failing to meet with the expectations of fans?

Will personal bodyguards become the norm for celebrity sports personalities after this?

As we mull over this, perhaps now would be a good time for the best players of Malaysian stock to seriously consider plying their trade in more competitive and safer leagues abroad.

For, the Malaysian Super League which for a long time has been anything but super, is now beginning to look unsafe as well. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.