KUALA LUMPUR – National football player Safawi Rasid will sue a sports news portal that has been circulating fake news about his death and supposed consuming of performance-enhancing drugs.
The portal, Sport.com at sportep.co.uk, operates under a UK-based domain and has been publishing football-related articles in multiple languages worldwide.
Recently, it also claimed that the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) had banned the 27-year-old winger from all football-related activities following a positive doping test.
Speaking to Scoop, Safawi, who is currently on loan at Terengganu FC from JDT, said he had expressed his disappointment and frustration with the portal on his Instagram story, hinting at legal action.
“This is such a baseless allegation, and I wonder what people gain by coming up with unnecessary slanders about me, especially when I have done everything right throughout my life as a footballer,” he told Scoop.
“The news of my death was particularly disturbing to me and my family members. I even started receiving calls from my relatives who were all worried. I had to explain to each and every one of them that the news was not true.
“Why are certain people so malicious, writing stories like these just for the sake of publicity?
“I’m just a footballer who wants to do my job, and I don’t understand what certain people gain by trying to bring me down. Throughout my years of playing football, I have never consumed any kind of performance-enhancing drugs. I’ve built my physique through hard work, and only I know the amount of sacrifice I’ve made all these years.
“If people need any updates about me, they can always feel free to reach out to me directly or through my manager. There is no need to create fake news. Enough is enough, and I can’t tolerate this matter,” said Safawi when contacted.
Further checks by Scoop found that the article about Safawi’s alleged death has been taken down, but the article about his alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs is still on the portal.
Meanwhile, Safawi said that he would not allow these fake allegations to disrupt his performance this season in the ongoing M-League.
“I’m a strong person, and I can definitely overcome this. People have criticised me over the years, and I have still managed to prevail. But this time, I will train and prove my doubters wrong. I will not let these issues distract my performance,” Safawi added.
Safawi, who has made 64 appearances for Harimau Malaya, has scored nine goals for Terengganu in 17 appearances across all competitions this season. – February 8, 2025