Perlis President Cup keeper Saiful Niza killed in accident

Kangar deputy police chief DSP Zaini Talib said the victim, who was riding a motorcycle from his house in Taman Kemajuan, Kangar to Gunung Medan in Utan Aji had tried to avoid a lorry that was parked on the road shoulder but lost control and hit an electric pole.

"Due to the impact, the victim's head was severed," said Zaini. Saiful's father Nasir Mat Arip, 47, an armed forces retiree said he and his family were in Penaga, Penang when his daughter Anis Maisara, 21, informed him of the accident.

"I did not expect him to go first. Only on Sunday he had called me to inform that he has been called up to attend training with the Perlis senior squad which plays in the Premier League.

"My wish to see him progress further in football has now ended but I have to accept his death," he said at the Tuanku Fauziah Hospital (HTF), here.

Nasir said Saiful, his third of five children, was hoping to sign a contract with the Perlis Football Association, tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Perlis coach Dollah Salleh was also saddened by the fact that he was not able to witness the potential of the talented Saiful who would have made an ideal goalkeeper with his height of 180cm.