KUALA LUMPUR – Former Malaysia skipper Safiq Rahim became the third footballer to be attacked in the past week after he was threatened with a hammer and his car windscreen smashed by two assailants.

He was not injured in the attack late on May 7 in Johor following a training session with Johor Darul Ta’zim, one of Asia’s top football clubs run by the crown prince of the Johor royal family.

The 36-year-old midfielder posted a photo of his black Honda with its rear windscreen smashed on Instagram.

“Didn’t expect to be attacked near the Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) training centre. We need to be vigilant,” he wrote in the post.

He also shared a copy of the police report he made on Instagram where he said: “Two men on a motorcycle suddenly approached my car armed with a hammer and smashed my rear car windscreen.

“I stopped the car and I was in fear.”

The incident comes within a week of two other attacks on footballers in the South-east Asian nation.

Malaysia’s right winger Faisal Halim is in a hospital’s intensive care unit with fourth degree burns after being splashed with acid over the weekend outside the capital Kuala Lumpur.

The police are investigating the motive for the attack.

His teammate Akhyar Rashid was injured in a robbery outside his home in the eastern state of Terengganu last week.

Kuala Terengganu police chief Azli Mohamad Noor has said both incidents were unrelated.

Football Association of Malaysia president Hamidin Mohamad Amin on May 7 urged high-profile footballers to take precautions over their personal safety, including hiring bodyguards.

Malaysian football had its glory days in the 1970s and 1980s, and achieved its highest-ever ranking of 73 in 1993. AFP