The former captain of Australia has said that Bahrain and Thailand should be barred from hosting international sport until Hakeem al-Araibi, the refugee footballer, is released from prison.
Al-Araibi’s case has gained worldwide support, including from Didier Drogba and Jamie Vardy, after he was arrested in Thailand. The footballer, who has been playing for Australian side Pascoe Vale, was granted refugee status in Australia in 2017, three years after he fled there from his native Bahrain.
Al-Araibi claims he was tortured following the Arab Spring protests and was later sentenced to 10 years in prison for vandalising a police station, even though he was playing in a televised match at the time.
The 25-year-old was on his honeymoon in November when detained at Bangkok airport by Thai authorities, who were acting on an Interpol arrest warrant that has since been declared invalid.
Craig Foster, the former Australia captain who also played for Portsmouth and Crystal Palace, is leading the campaign to free Al-Araibi, who has been given 60 days to prepare a defence against the attempts to extradite him.
“It’s extremely distressing – every day he spends in custody is torture,” Foster said. “The urgency of the matter doesn’t diminish because he’s now got 60 days to prepare a case – the case is clear cut, he doesn’t belong in there because he is a refugee, it’s black and white.”
Al-Araibi’s case is complicated by the fact Thailand is not a signatory of the United Nations’ 1951 Refugees Convention and has a history of returning alleged criminals to their countries of origin. But there are other factors at play, most notably the strong economic links between Bahrain and Thailand and his criticism of Sheikh Salman, a member of the Bahrain royal family and president of the Asian Football Confederation, for not protecting athletes during the Gulf state’s crackdown on protests in 2011 and 2012.
“We want to increase the pressure on the Thai government, particularly the prime minister who we know now can intervene – he’s been hiding behind due process, but it’s been confirmed to us that he can release Hakeem,” said Foster.
“But we also call on all international sports bodies to place immediate sanctions on Bahrain and Thailand. If they cannot guarantee the safety of a refugee, they cannot guarantee any player’s safety. So they should be banned from hosting international sport, club or country.”
