Hakeem al-Araibi: The battle is won but not the war

The footballer made his in the international arena in 2010 for Bahrain's U-17 team.

“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever.” 

In his iconic book 1984, author George Orwell predicts that the fate of human race completely rests at the mercy of the Big Brother i.e the Government. Inequality, ignorance and utter submission to a totalitarian ruling class form the crux of Orwell’s society, and the recent story of Hakeem al-Araibi serves as a chilling reminder that the British author was probably not mistaken in his predictions.

Born in the Kingdom of Bahrain in 1993, Hakeem was enamored by the appeal of the Beautiful Game from an early age. He spent his formative years learning the tricks of the trade at his local club Al-Shabab and he made his bow in the international arena in 2010 for Bahrain’s U-17 team. All the signs of a promising career were there for him, but fate had something else in store for Hakeem.

The Set-up

In late 2011, he had his first brush with the repressive Bahraini Police who arrested him for a false accusation. This would not be the first time that they had fabricated charges against a citizen, but Hakeem was targeted because his brother Emad was a noted rebel and as of February 2019, is still in prison for dissuading against those in charge in the now- infamous 2011 Arab Springs.

In November 2012, Hakeem was arrested and detained once again on false charges. The police claimed that he was a part of a civil disobedience group that was hell-bent on destroying public property and causing insurgency, but his lawyer later proved that that was not the case as the footballer was engaged in a televised game on the day in question. Despite having an airtight alibi, Hakeem was held against his will for 45 days during which time he was tortured mentally and physically. He was not the only one, several other footballers were also dealt with the same punishment and their faces were broadcast on national television labeling them as traitors and liars.

Hakeem was born in Bahrain where his brother was a noted rebel

In 2016, he revealed to German media outlet ARD the extent of the beating he had to take: "They spent three hours hitting me hard on my legs while saying we will break your bones, we will destroy your future, you will never play football again with these legs." According to him, the move was instigated by the politicians who detested his affiliation to the pro-government movement. In particular, he accused Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, the country’s football body head of deserting players in desperate times.

The Capture…

Since 2014, Hakeem has been living as a political refugee in Australia, having fled Bahrain on bail. He feared that the worst would befall him as it did on his brother if he continued living there. He was plying his trade for semi-professional teams in Melbourne and thought that the worst was over, but little did he know that no matter where he went, the “boot” would never stop stamping his “face”.

The football player was kept in a 76-day long detention

In November 2018, Hakeem was captured by the Thailand police when he and his wife landed at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport for their belated honeymoon. Since then, till the 11th of February 2019, the footballer was kept in 76-day long detention while those in power used him as a pawn to play a long-drawn game of politics and corporate governance. It was only thanks to the involvement of some of Australia’s most iconic sporting voices and a viral social media movement that he was granted the right to return home and a proper, unbiased trial.

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The arrest was apparently made on the request of Bahraini authorities and an Interpol “Red-Notice” (as it turned out, it was a mistaken notice). Despite being assured that his refugee status would not affect his stay in Thailand and in spite of having done no apparent wrong, Bahraini officials wanted to get a hold of Hakeem. In his absence from the country, he had been tried and was sentenced to a prison term and the officials wanted him to serve his sentence.

The Release

Following the image of Hakeem shackled in chains making waves in social media, the footballing community came together to support the innocence of the footballer. Coming under intense scrutiny, Thailand finally denied Bahrain’s request and returned Hakeem to Australia where he was welcomed with utter glee amidst the chants of football’s most famous lines, “You’ll Never Walk Alone”. On his return, he ecstatically declared that "I don't have citizenship yet, but my country is Australia. I will die in Australia and I love Australia."  

Hakeem’s return is a massive win for human-rights organizations everywhere, but more so Craig Foster, a TV host, and a former Australian football captain who had played a critical role in ensuring this travesty would not go unnoticed by the fans or the media. There is, however, a lot that still could be and needs to be done to ensure such incidents don't happen again.

What could FIFA have done?

Sheikh Salman, who was accused of orchestrating this bogus arrest warrant by Hakeem still continues to be in charge of AFC

The utter incompetence and failure on the part of the Interpol, Thai Police and the Australian Federal Police to sort and rescind the “Red Notice” or release Hakeem much earlier than he actually was has exposed the depth of corruption and red-tapism that is prevalent across the international political cesspool. Not that FIFA is to be spared, either.

Over the last few years, FIFA has come under constant scrutiny with reports of human right-infringements surfacing during the Brazil and Russian World Cups in 2014 and 2018. Poor working conditions and subsequent death of hundreds of migrant workers who are engaged in building the infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has created quite a stir in the pot. As a result, various laws were codified pertaining to executives ensuring that rights of those involved in and around the sport are protected at all costs.

However, in spite of all the legislation and despite having a tremendous sway in South-East Asia, FIFA made little or no moves to inflict pressure on both Thailand and Bahrain to resolve the issue at the earliest. It is well-known that both the countries in question have huge sums of development deals and tax reforms invested in each other, so theories of collusion have surfaced given how an apparently trivial mistake could have cost the life of an innocent footballer, if not for Foster and his relentless efforts.

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To make matters worse, Sheikh Salman, who was accused of orchestrating this bogus arrest warrant by Hakeem still continues to be in charge of the Asian Football Confederation and no investigation has so far been conducted into the extent of his involvement. Ironically, it was only last month that the AFC organized its showpiece event, the AFC Asian Cup 2019 and Sheikh Salman was repeatedly photographed with Gianni Infantino, the FIFA President but no statement was made by either of them regarding Hakeem’s plight.

In a piece for the Guardian, Foster writes, “The inability of football to step forward on this is plain to see. They needed to be pushed to save a human life.” The onus is on us, as fans and consumers of the sport to come together and demand a clean-up of the sport and question those in charge, for the battle may have been won but a war regarding the very soul of the sport is still raging.