Hakeem Al-Araibi

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FILE -In this Monday, Feb. 4, 2019, file photo, detained Bahraini soccer player Hakeem al-Araibi arrives at the criminal court in Bangkok, Thailand. Australian Federal Police did not know Al-Araibi was a refugee who feared persecution in his homeland when the agency alerted Bahrain and Thailand that he was on a flight bound for Bangkok, a top police official said Monday. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

Australia police say they didn’t know Bahraini was a refugee

By ROD McGUIRK - Associated Press

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, left, and refugee soccer player Hakeem al-Araibi pose for a photograph before a soccer match at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Thursday, Feb.14, 2019. Al-Araibi was detained in Thailand for three months under threat of extradition to Bahrain and has come to Canberra to shake hands with the prime minister and say thank you for his freedom. (AP Photo/Rod McGuirk)

Refugee footballer thanks Australian leader for freedom

By ROD McGUIRK - Associated Press

FILE - In this Monday, Feb. 4, 2019, file photo, refugee soccer player Bahraini Hakeem al-Araibi leaves the criminal court in Bangkok, Thailand. A Thai court on Monday, Feb. 11, 2019, has ordered the release of al-Araibi after prosecutors said they were no longer seeking his extradition to Bahrain. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

Refugee footballer freed by Thailand returns to Australia

By ROD McGUIRK - Associated Press

FILE - In this Monday, Feb. 4, 2019, file photo, refugee soccer player Bahraini Hakeem al-Araibi leaves the criminal court in Bangkok, Thailand. A Thai court on Monday, Feb. 11, 2019, has ordered the release of al-Araibi after prosecutors said they were no longer seeking his extradition to Bahrain. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

The Latest: Bahrain says it could still pursue refugee

Associated Press

FILE - In this Monday, Feb. 4, 2019, file photo, refugee soccer player Bahraini Hakeem al-Araibi leaves the criminal court in Bangkok, Thailand. A Thai court on Monday, Feb. 11, 2019, has ordered the release of al-Araibi after prosecutors said they were no longer seeking his extradition to Bahrain. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

Bahrain refugee soccer player freed by Thailand, heads home

By KAWEEWIT KAEWJINDA and TASSANEE VEJPONGSA - Associated Press

Tributes are placed outside the Cardiff City Stadium, Wales, for Emiliano Sala, Friday Feb. 8, 2019. Tributes are being paid across soccer to Argentine player Emiliano Sala, with the French league announcing a minute's applause before matches. French club Nantes says it will retire the No. 9 jersey worn by Sala before he was sold last month to Cardiff in the English Premier League. (Aaron Chown/PA via AP)

Column: A sad, shocking week that tested football’s heart

By JOHN LEICESTER - Associated Press

In this Monday, Feb. 4, 2019, photo, Bahraini Hakeem al-Araibi, center, leaves the criminal court in Bangkok, Thailand. Thailand's government insists it cannot free Hakeem who has refugee status in Australia until hearings on Bahrain's request for his extradition are completed.(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Thailand: Soccer player must go through extradition hearings

By KAWEEWIT KAEWJINDA - Associated Press

Bahraini Hakeem al-Araibi, center, leaves the criminal court in Bangkok, Thailand, Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, Feb. 4, 2019. The soccer player who has refugee status in Australia told a Thai court Monday that he refuses to be voluntarily extradited to Bahrain, which has asked for his return to serve a prison sentence for a crime he denies committing.(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Australia scraps game in Thailand, campaigns to free refugee

Associated Press

Former Australian soccer national team member Craig Foster, left, and Vice President of FIFPro Francis Awaritefe wait to meet detained Bahraini soccer player Hakeem al-Araibi as he arrives at the criminal court in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, Feb. 4, 2019. Al-Araibi who has refugee status in Australia pleaded outside a Bangkok court on Monday for Thailand to not send him home to Bahrain, which is seeking his extradition to serve a prison sentence for a crime he denies. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

The Latest: Australia urges Thailand to release footballer

Associated Press

Detained Bahraini soccer player Hakeem al-Araibi, center, arrives at the criminal court in Bangkok, Thailand Monday, Feb. 4, 2019. Al-Araibi has said he fled his home country due to political repression and human rights groups and activists fear he risks torture if he is sent back. Bahrain wants him returned to serve a 10-year prison sentence he received in absentia in 2014 for vandalizing a police station, which he denies. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

The Latest: Thai court sets April hearing for soccer player

Associated Press

Detained Bahraini soccer player Hakeem al-Araibi, front left, arrives at the criminal court in Bangkok, Thailand Monday, Feb. 4, 2019. Al-Araibi has said he fled his home country due to political repression and human rights groups and activists fear he risks torture if he is sent back. Bahrain wants him returned to serve a 10-year prison sentence he received in absentia in 2014 for vandalizing a police station, which he denies. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Australia urges Thailand free refugee soccer player

By KAWEEWIT KAEWJINDA - Associated Press

FILE - In this Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018, file photo. Bahraini football player Hakeem al-Araibi answers questions from the waiting journalists as he is brought in to a court in Bangkok, Thailand. Thai prosecutors have submitted a request in court for Thailand to extradite to Bahrain a detained soccer player who has refugee status in Australia. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe, File)

Request made in Thai court to send soccer player to Bahrain

Associated Press

Australian rallies call for Thais to free Bahraini refugee

Associated Press

FILE - In this Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018, file photo, prison guards escort Bahraini football player Hakeem al-Araibi from a court in Bangkok, Thailand. Thailand officially received a request from Bahrain to extradite a detained soccer player who has refugee status in Australia. The foreign ministry says the request for extraditing Hakeem al-Araibi has been forwarded to prosecutors for deliberation. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe, File)

Wife of detained refugee soccer player appeals to Thai PM

Associated Press

FILE - In this Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018, file photo, prison guards escort Bahraini football player Hakeem al-Araibi from a court in Bangkok, Thailand. Thailand officially received a request from Bahrain to extradite a detained soccer player who has refugee status in Australia. The foreign ministry says the request for extraditing Hakeem al-Araibi has been forwarded to prosecutors for deliberation. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe, File)

Australian PM asks Thailand to free detained soccer player

By KAWEEWIT KAEWJINDA and TASSANEE VEJPONGSA - Associated Press

Former Australian national team captain Craig Foster walks after a briefing on the illegal detention of refugee football player Hakeem al-Araibi at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, on Monday, Jan. 28, 2019. Foster is carrying some 50'000 petition signatures and supporting documents that demand his immediate release. Al-Araibi has been detained in a Bangkok detention centre for two months, facing imminent extradition to Bahrain. (Ennio Leanza/Keystone via AP)

Soccer activists campaign for release of Bahraini refugee

By GRAHAM DUNBAR - Associated Press

Former Australian soccer national team member Craig Foster talks to journalists at The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand after meeting detained refugee Hakeem al-Araibi in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, Jan. 25, 2019. FIFA has written to the Thai prime minister calling for the release of a Bahraini refugee soccer player who is in detention while embroiled in an extradition case. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

IOC backs FIFA’s calls for Bahraini player to be released

By The Associated Press - Associated Press

Former Australian soccer national team member Craig Foster talks to journalists at The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand after meeting with detained refugee Hakeem al-Araibi in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, Jan. 25, 2019. FIFA has written to the Thai prime minister calling for the release of a Bahraini refugee soccer player who is in detention while embroiled in an extradition case. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Ex-player seeks FIFA help for jailed Bahrain refugee athlete

By KAWEEWIT KAEWJINDA - Associated Press

FIFA asks Thai premier to release Bahraini soccer player

By ROB HARRIS - Associated Press

Former Australian soccer national team member Craig Foster talks to journalists after meeting Hakeem al-Araibi, a refugee athlete detained in Thailand, outside a prison in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Foster called on soccer's governing bodies to push for the release of al-Araibi while it weighs an extradition request. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Australia soccer player says detained refugee is losing hope

Associated Press