KOTA KINABALU, Oct 7 — Sabah FC today denied a report by a news portal that claimed some of the team’s best players were involved in a plane crash that claimed their lives while on their way to an important league match.

Sabah FC team manager Rafie Robert in a statement today said the news portal report is not true and he is considering filing a police report in the near future so that the authorities can take appropriate action.

Rafie said the Sabah team was currently undergoing training in preparation for a friendly match with Tawau FA on October 12.

"Several players including Stuart Wilkin, Dominic Tan, Daniel Ting and Darren Lok have been called up to the national squad for a friendly match against New Zealand at the North Harbour Stadium, Auckland on October 14.

"This portal report is seen as malicious and causes concern among the management of Sabah as well as football fans in this state.

"We will file a police report in the near future to ensure that this does not happen again in the future and thus ensure that the safety level of Sabah players is always maintained,” he said.

Rafie said that so far all the players and Sabah management are in a safe condition and there have been no incidents as reported.

"The public in particular, football fans in Sabah are reminded not to easily believe reports that deliberately cause confusion these days,” he said adding that the Sabah squad under head coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee were undergoing training as per scheduled. — Bernama