Hakeem Al-Araibi arrives in Australia to hero's welcome after former Bahrain international is freed from Thai prison
Hakeem Al-Araibi, the former Bahrain international footballer with refugee status in Australia, has arrived home to a rapturous welcome following his release from a Thai prison.
Huge crowds of supporters carrying placards greeted him as he touched down at Melbourne Airport on Tuesday afternoon.
His return marked a triumph for the global football community that rallied around him following his arrest in November when he was in Thailand on honeymoon.
Speaking to the gathered media and supporters, Al-Araibi said: "I just want to thank Australia. It's amazing to see all these people here. Australia is my country. I don't have citizenship yet but my country is Australia."
Al-Araibi was granted refugee status in Australia in 2017, three years after he fled there from his native Bahrain, where he claims he was tortured following the Arab Spring protests.
He was later sentenced to 10 years in prison for allegedly vandalising a police station, even though he was playing in a televised match at the time.
Since settling in Melbourne, he has played for local side Pascoe Vale but was detained at Bangkok airport by Thai police acting on an Interpol arrest warrant issued by Bahrain.
His case has attracted international attention over the last three months and the campaign to save him from extradition was led by former Australia captain Craig Foster, who spent four years in England with Portsmouth and Crystal Palace between 1997 and 2001, and now works as a television pundit.
Foster was alongside Al-Araibi as he arrived in Melbourne, and later told reporters the footballer's release had come as a result of an "amazing coalition of people".
He said: "I think what's occurred over the last almost three months to fight incredibly hard not just for a young player who virtually no-one knew, but a refugee under our protection that we felt we needed to step forward and protect, to see him back here on home soil speaks volumes of the character, the values and the pride we have as Australians."
He added: "Something of this magnitude doesn't happen without an incredible team behind, and there's been an amazing coalition of people, right from around the world."
Juventus star Giorgio Chiellini, Didier Drogba, Gary Lineker and Jamie Vardy are just some of the stars who publicly backed the #SaveHakeem campaign, with the global footballers' union FIFPro and the World Players' Association all lobbying hard on his behalf as well.
The Australian government, Fifa, the International Olympic Committee and human rights groups also spoke out or wrote open letters to Bahrain and Thailand on the matter.
Al-Araibi was freed after Bahrain informed the Thai authorities it no longer wanted to extradite him, with the dramatic U-turn coming a week after a Thai judge sent Al-Araibi back to prison, giving his legal team 60 days to prepare their defence before the next stage in the extradition process commenced.
In a statement, Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy director of advocacy Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei said: "Two moments captured the world's attention this month: the photo of footballer Hakeem AlAraibi shackled and barefoot, and the moment of Hakeem breaking the chains and reunited with his beloved wife, friends and the football community in Melbourne."
Al-Araibi does not return to his new home a completely free man, as the authorities in Bahrain claim they do not consider this to be the end of the affair.
Bahrain's ministry of foreign affairs previously said "it takes note of the halt in legal proceedings" in Thailand but the "guilty verdict" against Al-Araibi remains in place in Bahrain, where he "holds the right to appeal".
It added: "The Kingdom of Bahrain reaffirms its right to pursue all necessary legal actions against Mr Al-Araibi."
