Bahrain Mirror: Former Chelsea star and former captain of the Ivory Coast national team Didier Drogba joined the international campaign demanding the release of Bahraini footballer Hakeem Al-Araibi, who is currently detained by the Thai authorities with a possibility to hand him to the Bahraini authorities. The Ivorian posted a picture of Al-Araibi on his Twitter account along with the "SaveHakeem" hashtag.

Many parties following the campaign extended their gratitude to the star, who was named African Footballer of the Year twice, for his solidarity with the campaign in order to return Al-Araibi safe to his wife in Australia.

On the other hand, the international Cameroonian footballer Pierre Webó expressed his support to the campaign to release Al-Arabi via his Twitter account. The Cameroonian player tweeted "A football player needs urgent help. I support Hakeem Al-Araibi".

Al-Araibi, who was granted asylum in Australia and plays there, is detained in Remand Prison in the Thai capital since he was arrested by the immigration police on November 27, 2018, based on a red notice that was issued by mistake by the Interpol and was later cancelled. Since that time, the Bahraini and Australian governments were in conflict, as each government is attempting to convince Thai to return Al-Araibi to it. However, the public prosecutor office agreed to follow up Al-Araibi's extradition request, ignoring Australia's call.

Arabic Version