THIS week’s conclusion of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup coincides with a shameful episode for the region’s football with a former Bahraini national youth player fighting to avoid extradition from Bangkok for a crime he couldn’t possibly have committed.
Hakeem al-Araibi, a Bahraini refugee and Australian resident, is accused of vandalising a police station in his homeland in 2012. But at the time of the alleged offence, there is video evidence of the 25-year-old playing in a televised Bahraini League game.
Two years later, having already departed from his homeland, he was convicted of the charges in absentia and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Having lived in Australia for five years and playing for a variety of semi-professional clubs in Melbourne, Araibi made the foolhardy decision last November to make his first overseas trip since fleeing Bahrain by flying to Thailand for a week-long honeymoon with his new bride.
Hakeem Al Araibi arrives at a court in Bangkok, Thailand. – Reuters photo
And after his travel was incorrectly red-flagged by Australian authorities, Araibi was arrested on arrival in Thailand and incarcerated at Bangkok Remand Prison. Now, Bahraini authorities have begun the extradition process to bring Araibi back to Manama where he fears that he will be facing torture, and possibly, death.
His brother was part of the Arab Spring protests of 2011 in Bahrain. As a consequence. Araibi claims that he was cruelly tortured the following year.
With Japan facing Qatar in Friday night’s Asian Cup final in United Arab Emirates, protests are planned for Sydney, Melbourne and London to raise awareness of Araibi’s plight.
Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison has joined the chorus of influential voices, calling for his immediate release. Morrison raised the issue with his Thailand counterpart Prayut Chan-o-cha, saying that Canberra was making “extensive efforts” on behalf of Araibi.
As a refugee, he had been issued a permanent protection visa by Australia. Morrison argued that returning the footballer to Bahraini authorities would be a violation of international human rights law.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) had come under fire for its silence, but finally joined FIFA in calling for Araibi’s release on Tuesday. Complicating matters is that AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa is a member of the Bahaini ruling family and has recused himself for intervening.
Sheikh Salman continues to hold ambitions of becoming FIFA president, having already run unsuccessfully in 2015, and seems keen to sidestep the controversy.
Not helping Araibi’s cause is his harsh criticism of Sheikh Salman, given in an interview with The Guardian, from his Bangkok prison cell.
He said: “Bahrain wants me back to punish me because I talked to the media in 2016 about the terrible human rights and how Sheikh Salman is a very bad man who discriminates against Shia Muslims.”
Araibi made the decision to flee Bahrain while on national football duty in Qatar after discovering he’d been sentenced to 10 years after his vandalism conviction. His daring escape route to Australia was via Iran, Malaysia and Thailand.
This week, Australian clubs are highlighting Araibi’s plight by wearing armbands and stopping for a minute’s applause at A-League games. Former Socceroo Craig Foster, a prominent media personality, presented a petition with 50,000 signatures to FIFA general secretary Fatma Samoura in Zurich while leading TV commentator Simon Hill will wear Araibi’s shirt from his most recent Australian club, Pascoe Vale, at a Sydney rally.
But the halfhearted and belated response from Asian football bosses is perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the affair. It comes at a time when the confederation should be celebrating a showcase moment with the staging of its 17th Asian Cup final.
Araibi’s grave mistake was to embark on international travel in the first place, given the ambiguity of his status, and in the wake of his hard-hitting criticism of his homeland.
“We came to Thailand just to have a week of happiness here together, but I regret it so much now,” he told The Guardian. “I wish we had never left Australia.”
Surely a trip to Queensland’s sandy beaches, or Ayers Rock in central Australia, would have been a smarter decision than opening the door to his vengeful countrymen.
Jason Dasey is CEO of Singapore-based Cockatoo Media and host of corporate events in Borneo