Pic: X / @faisalhalim_7
Kuala Lumpur: A Malaysian national team footballer who was the victim of an acid attack remained in an intensive care unit Tuesday with fourth-degree burns that will require more surgery, local media reported.
Faisal Halim suffered burns on the neck, shoulder, hands and chest in Petaling Jaya district outside the capital Kuala Lumpur over the weekend.
Nicknamed "Mickey", the 26-year-old plays on the right wing for Selangor Football Club and Malaysia.
"After the first surgery, the specialist doctors found that it was not second-degree burns but fourth-degree burns," Football Association of Selangor deputy president Shahril Mokhtar was quoted as saying by national news agency Bernama.
"Based on the assessment, Faisal will undergo at least two more surgeries as determined by the doctors.
"Currently, he is still in the ICU, being closely monitored by the specialists."
He added the footballer's movement and speech had been affected.
National and local football association officials could not be immediately reached Tuesday by AFP for comment.
Selangor state police chief Hussein Omar Khan told reporters that investigations over the motive for the attack continued and that two suspects had been arrested.
A photo that went viral online showed a visibly shocked and shirtless Faisal seated on a bench with burn marks on his upper body.
The acid attack came three days after another national team player, Akhyar Rashid, was injured in a robbery outside his home in the eastern state of Terengganu.
Kuala Terengganu police chief Azli Mohamad Noor said the incidents were unrelated.
Football Association of Malaysia president Hamidin Mohamad Amin urged high-profile footballers to take precautions about their personal safety, including hiring bodyguards.
"If you are a big player, you can consider what the overseas footballers are doing, which is to get a bodyguard," he was quoted as saying by The Star newspaper.
