LET'S RESTORE THE IMAGE OF NATIONAL FOOTBALL - FAM PRESIDENT

SHAH ALAM, May 8 (Bernama) -- Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin has issued a call for everyone in the country to come together to restore the image of national football following the recent attacks on three local football players.

Hamidin said such problems can have a negative effect on football’s image in the country and needed to be overcome by all parties, including FAM and the Malaysian Football League (MFL) as the organisers of the Malaysia League (M-League), and called for an immediate stop to all speculations about the attacks.

“We need to restore everything together so such things don’t recur...we need to work towards fixing this situation as best we can.

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“All parties have their roles, not only the authorities, media, fans, clubs, MFL and FAM to come together to curb and overcome this problem,” he told reporters at a private hospital here today after accompanying Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh as they visited Selangor FC winger Mohamad Faisal Abdul Halim today.

Hamidin also rejected allegations that the recent troubles were closely linked to his leadership and that it would all end if he resigned as FAM president.

"I know what I’m doing, it’s all sincerely done for football without any vested interest, the statement is purely speculation, let’s leave it to the authorities,” he added.

Faisal, one of the three players attacked recently, was splashed with acid at a shopping mall in Petaling Jaya last Sunday and suffered fourth-degree burns as a result, while Muhammad Akhyar Abdul Rashid was injured in a mugging near his home on Thursday and Safiq Rahim was attacked by two men on a motorcycle in an incident that left the rear windscreen of his car smashed in Johor Bahru yesterday.

-- BERNAMA