An international player is subjected to an acid attack

Officials revealed late yesterday evening, Tuesday, that one of the stars of the Malaysian football team, Faisal Halim, was attacked with an acid, which led to him suffering fourth-degree burns.

Malaysian football officials said that Faisal Halim is in a “critical but stable condition” and will need further surgery as his movement and speech have been affected as a result.

Malaysian police reported that on May 5, the 26-year-old young player was sprayed with concentrated sulfuric acid in front of a shopping center outside the capital, Kuala Lumpur.

Faisal Halim, who plays as a striker for Selangor Football Club as well as the Malaysian national team, was transferred to a nearby private hospital in the capital, while he remains conscious. Officials added that he suffered severe burns to his face, neck, shoulders, hands and chest.

Officials from the Football Association of Malaysia in Selangor said that specialist doctors concluded on Tuesday that Halim had suffered fourth-degree burns, not second-degree burns as previously thought.

It is noteworthy that this is the second violent attack on a Malaysian football player within a month, as another player in the national team called Akhyar Rashid, 25 years old, was attacked by armed robbers in his apartment in downtown Kuala Lumpur after returning from a training session, last week. Last, he suffered a 4-centimeter (1.5-inch) gash on his forehead, according to police.