JOHOR BARU: The Johor Darul Ta'zim football club (JDT FC) has heightened security measures for the safety of their players following the recent attack on club and national footballer Safiq Rahim, last night.
JDT FC chief executive officer Alistair Edwards said the spate of recent attacks against national footballers were concerning.
The club has also advised the players to practice caution of their surroundings and to be mindful of their social media postings.
The 36-year-old midfielder Safiq was driving his Honda City along Jalan Skudai, near Pantai Lido, when two assailants on a motorcycle crashed his vehicle's rear window with a hammer at 10.05pm.
He was not injured in the attack, but was shaken from the experience.
He said he had alighted from his vehicle to check the damages, and the two men had also threatened him with a hammer before fleeing the scene.
Shafiq took to his social media platform to relate the incident, after he lodged a police report.
Johor Baru (South) police chief Assistant Commissioner Raub Selamat said investigations are ongoing to identify the suspects involved.
"Although there are no closed-circuit televisions installed where the attack occurred, we are viewing other recordings to establish where the assailants came and escaped to," he said.
Police are investigating the attack under Section 427 of the Penal Code for mischief.
Raub said it was too soon to establish if the attack on Safiq is related to the recent attacks on footballers – Faisal Halim and Akhyar Rashid.
Asked if there were a possibility of the attacks being perpetrated by copy cat assailants, Raub said investigations were underway and police were looking at all possibilities.
Selangor FC player Faisal Halim suffered fourth-degree burns when two men on a motorcycle splashed acid on him while he was at a shopping centre in Petaling Jaya on Sunday, while Terengganu player Akhyar Rashid was assaulted and robbed by two men in Kuala Terengganu as he was getting out of his car after a training session last week.