Most facing the deluge of racism on social media in Malaysian cybersphere may choose to just turn off but for duo Rahman Imuda and Aaron Denison Deivasagayam, it was an opportunity for something better.

Tired of the toxicity online, the friends decided to start a programme to overcome these racial tensions through a much-loved sporting activity in Malaysia - futsal.

On Feb 1, they launched "Futsal Untuk Perpaduan" (Futsal For Unity) at Sport City Futsal in Petaling Jaya, where participants play futsal with players of different ethnicities, who they may not have been able to meet in their present social circle.

Rahman, 26, said he had this idea as far back as 2017, but he never had the courage to do it...