KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 — Petaling Jaya City (PJ City) FC rightback Rajes Perumal, 37, was killed in a motorcycle crash last night.

Gombak Acting District Police Chief Supt Noor Ariffin Mohamad Nasir said the accident occurred when the footballer who was riding a motorcycle from Jalan Sri Batu Caves towards Batu Muda at around 10.30pm, was believed to have lost control before crashing onto the left shoulder of the road and hitting a tree there.

He said Rajes suffered serious head injuries and was confirmed dead at the scene.

"His body was taken to Selayang Hospital Forensics Department for post-mortem. The case is being investigated under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987,” he said in a statement today.

Noor Ariffin urged the public who saw or had information about the accident to come forward to help the investigation or contact the Traffic Investigation Officer, Insp Mohd Shaifuddin Mohd Nor at 017-6645812 or the operations room of the Gombak District Police Headquarters at 03-61262222.

Meanwhile, PJ City Coach P. Maniam said the body of Rajes, who is a father of three children, was still at Selayang Hospital and will be brought back to his home at 5 pm today.

"Tomorrow, the funeral ceremony will be held around 1 pm, the location is not yet known,” he told Bernama.

Maniam described the passing of Rajes as a huge loss to PJ City because he was one of the more experienced players and an important person in the squad.

"He was so disciplined and very committed as a player, and was also a role model for the team. Sometimes I did discuss with him about the PJ City squad lineup and how to improve the team’s performance,” he said.

Teammate Kalamullah Al-Hafiz, PJ City’s goalkeeper, shared that Rajes was a person who did not talk much but gave a lot of encouragement to his teammates.

Rajes joined PJ City in 2018 and before that had played for PKNS FC from 2011-2013 followed by Selangor (2014), Kedah (2015) and returned to PKNS FC (2016-2017). — Bernama