Paul Pogba train selfie story helps to spread word on Hakeem al-Araibi with jailed refugee footballer ‘losing hope’
- Emotional former Socceroos captain Craig Foster visited the Bahrain refugee in a Bangkok prison
- Nate Patrick’s parents failed to recognise Pogba on a train and the story has caught fire online
His parents took a selfie with Manchester United’s Paul Pogba not knowing who he was, and their story went viral. So, Nate Patrick used the opportunity to highlight the plight of jailed refugee footballer Hakeem al-Araibi, who is reportedly losing hope of being free after two months in custody.
Australian Patrick posted a story on Twitter about how his parents shared a train with Manchester United players. E-sports commentator Patrick said the players were a bit unruly during a game of Uno and Pogba apologised to his parents by offering to take a selfie with them. Patrick’s father agreed, only out of politeness, because he had no idea who he was.
His story spread like wildfire on social media and Patrick made the most of its popularity by urging Twitter users to support the #SaveHakeem campaign and to watch a YouTube video telling the story of how the former Bahraini international, who fled to Australia from his home country in 2014, ended up in a Thai jail.
Meanwhile, the 25-year-old Al-Araibi appears no closer to freedom, eight weeks after he was arrested at Bangkok airport on an erroneous Interpol red notice seeking his extradition to Bahrain, where he fears for his life.
Al-Araibi, in 2016, criticised Bahrain royal family member and Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa for his alleged involvement in the crackdown of dissenting athletes during the Arab spring.