The national men's sepak takraw team suffered an early 2019 SEA Games blow after Syahir Rosdi and Zulkifli Abdul Razak were dropped by the Malaysian Sepaktakraw Association (PSM).

The two tekong stars, who played for the Penang Black Panther and the Terengganu Turtles in the Sepak Takraw League last season, shared their letters of dismissal on social media on Thursday.

The identical letters also stated that they were temporarily banned from participating in all sepak takraw activities.

When contacted by Astro Arena, PSM president Ahmad Ismail hinted that disciplinary problems were behind the decision.

"We will have a press conference next week to explain the situation.

"It is very simple, there's no smoke without fire unless someone starts it," he said.

Their dismissals potentially came at a bad time, with SEA Games taking place in Manila in five months' time.

Plus, Syahir and Zulkifli were instrumental in ending the country's 24-year Asian Games gold medal drought in sepak takraw last year.

For the record, at the 2017 SEA Games, Malaysia picked up eight medals in sepak takraw, including one gold in the men's regu event.