27-11-2025 (KUALA LUMPUR) Malaysian sports journalist Haresh Deol has firmly dismissed police suggestions that the violent assault against him in Bangsar was driven by “personal issues,” insisting the attack is directly linked to his investigative reporting on governance failures in Malaysian football. Deol, the co-founder of Twentytwo13, suffered injuries to his face, hands, and body after two men attacked him on Wednesday afternoon, as first reported by Free Malaysia Today.
Deol has been at the forefront of sensitive reporting on controversies surrounding the national team’s naturalisation programme and longstanding structural problems in Malaysian sports. Although the Brickfields police chief confirmed the arrest of a suspect and floated a personal dispute as the motive, Deol rejected that claim on his podcast, stating, “I want to reiterate that I do not have personal issues with anyone.”
The incident has drawn widespread condemnation from media organisations and sporting bodies. The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) denounced all violence against journalists, while the National Press Club (NPC) and PEN Malaysia called the assault a clear act of intimidation aimed at silencing scrutiny of issues of public interest.
With the case currently investigated under Section 323 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt, press-freedom advocates are urging authorities to examine whether the attack was orchestrated to obstruct reporting on corruption and governance in Malaysian sport.
