After they were suspended by the Malaysian Sepaktakraw Association (PSM), Syahir Rosdi and Zulkifli Abdul Razak decided to retire from the national team.

The two tekong stars, who helped Malaysia win a gold medal in the men's regu event at the Asian Games last year, were recently dropped from the national team and suspended from participating in all sepak takraw activities allegedly due to disciplinary problems.

Despite having an opportunity to appeal against the punishment, they opted to retire from international duty as they were disappointed with the PSM management.

"We wanted to play for Malaysia and make the country proud.

"But they [the management] like to do as they please, dropping players without reason.

"Our allowances had already been halved, so I thought it would not matter at all to stop playing and let them keep the money," Syahir told Astro Arena.

"We had requested to be let go properly but were accused of having disciplinary issues instead.

"We wouldn't have commented if we were let go properly," Zulkifli added.