After some 11 weeks of excruciating limbo, and with numerous heroic efforts here in Australia and elsewhere to free the refugee footballer, Hakeem al-Araibi, now vindicated, it is time to look at the implications.

For the last eight years, the Bahraini authorities have carried out an unrelenting campaign of repression against demonstrators, opposition leaders, peaceful critics, and human rights defenders, said Aya Majzoub in a report on the eighth anniversary of the Bahraini Uprising.

Australia’s meaning to Bahrainis has changed forever, and of course in the heart of Hakeem Al-Araibi, who said upon his return "I will be strong for Australia. I love Australia. It is my country".

Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai has confirmed that he had met with Bahraini Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa to discuss the release of Bahraini football player Hakeem Al-Araibi.

The Agence France-Presse (AFP) said that ex-Socceroos captain Craig Foster, who was capped 29 times for his country, believes the fight to free Hakeem Al-Araibi was the most important battle of his life.

The honeymoon that Bahraini footballer Hakeem Al Araibi and his wife had hoped to have in Thailand late last year did not go according to plan.

Media outlets said that the released Bahraini footballer flew to Canberra to Meet Prime Minister and Foreign Minister.

An analysis for Australian news website describe Hakeem Al-Araibi's return to Australia after Thai prison release a victory for sport and human rights.

The case of the Bahraini refugee football player who resides in Australia, Hakeem Al-Araibi, has inflicted an overwhelming diplomatic, political and human rights defeat on the Bahraini regime; a defeat clearly witnessed by the local and international public opinion. The regime has not been exposed to such an obvious defeat for a quite some time.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) issued a statement in which it said that it has been working tirelessly with all the relevant stakeholders in Hakeem Al-Araibi's case, in order to bring it to a positive end.

Hakeem Al-Araibi's release shows the power of collective action by athletes, governments, nongovernmental organizations, United Nations agencies, players' unions, and sports federations to address rights issues, Human Rights Watch said.

Former Australia captain Craig Foster considered, in an article published in The Guardian newspaper, that the release of Hakeem Al-Araibi is a win for humanity, for the power of citizens of the world demanding that human rights be protected, indicating that it is the beginning of a broader fight for the values of sport.

Deputy Secretary-General of the National Islamic Al-Wefaq Society Sheikh Hussein Al-Daihi praised the release of the Bahraini footballer, who has refugee status in Australia, Hakeem Al-Araibi, by Thai authorities.

The Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society expressed gratitude and appreciation for the Australian Government and all its bodies and institutions, and the community, the people, the media, and especially the sports sector in Australia.

A Thai court ordered the release of a refugee soccer player on Monday after prosecutors said they were no longer seeking his extradition to Bahrain in a case that had drawn worldwide attention.

The Government of Bahrain demanded returning Hakeem Al-Araibi back to prison from Thailand while the Australian authorities return the FIFA player to Australian territory and will grant him citizenship in recognition of his efforts, said former Bahraini member of parliament Ali Al-Aswad.

The refugee Bahraini footballer Haeekm Al-Araibi arrived in Melbourne, Australia, from Bangkok, after about 70 days of arbitrary arrest there based on Bahraini government request.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa received on Monday (February 11, 2019) the Ambassador of Australia to the Kingdom of Bahrain, residing in Riyadh, Ridwaan Jadwat.

A refugee Bahraini footballer who was held in a Thai prison for more than two months at the Gulf state's request arrived in his adoptive home Australia on Tuesday, television pictures showed, to cheers and the great relief of his wife.

Director of the international affairs division of the Thai attorney general's office told reporters that Bahrain no longer wanted to take legal action against Araibi, so his office dropped the case, the Washington Post newspaper reported on Monday (February 11, 2019).