Australia scraps game in Thailand, campaigns to free refugee

By: The Associated Press Posted: 6:37 PM CST Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019 Last Modified: 6:38 PM CST Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019

SYDNEY, Australia - Australian soccer authorities have cancelled a game in Thailand to protest the continued detention in Bangkok of a refugee player who is fighting extradition to Bahrain.

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SYDNEY, Australia - Australian soccer authorities have cancelled a game in Thailand to protest the continued detention in Bangkok of a refugee player who is fighting extradition to Bahrain.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/02/2019 (2778 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SYDNEY, Australia – Australian soccer authorities have cancelled a game in Thailand to protest the continued detention in Bangkok of a refugee player who is fighting extradition to Bahrain.

Football Federation Australia announced Wednesday it had scrapped the game against China, a scheduled warmup ahead of next month’s qualifiers for the Asian under-23 championships.

Former Australia national team captain Craig Foster and the Australian and international players’ unions have been leading a campaign for the release of Hakeem al-Araibi, a refugee who lives and plays for a semi-professional club in Australia and has been held in Thailand since November at the request of Bahrain.

Bahraini Hakeem al-Araibi, center, leaves the criminal court in Bangkok, Thailand, Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, Feb. 4, 2019. The soccer player who has refugee status in Australia told a Thai court Monday that he refuses to be voluntarily extradited to Bahrain, which has asked for his return to serve a prison sentence for a crime he denies committing.(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Australia coach Graham Arnold says “Australia’s national teams are united in their support for Hakeem al-Araibi and we call on the community to continue to campaign for his release.”

The 25-year-old al-Araibi, a former Bahraini national team player, has said he fled his home country due to political repression and fears he is at risk of being tortured if he returns to Bahrain.