Players from both Heidelberg United and Bentleigh Greens will wear armbands during their Community Shield final this Thursday evening, in support of the #savehakeem campaign.
Football Victoria has announced that this year’s Community Shield final will be dedicated to raising awareness for Melbourne based footballer Hakeem Al-Araibi. The 25-year-old defender plays for NPL club Pascoe Vale, but is currently detained in Thailand and threated with extradition to his birth country Bahrain where he faces a 10 year prison sentence for allegedly vandalizing a Police Station in a political protest in 2012, a charge which he denies.
Granted refugee status by the Australian government in 2016, Hakeem was detained in Thailand two months ago whilst on holiday with his wife. Following a groundswell of support from local clubs, the PFA (Professional Footballers Association), the FFA and finally the AFC ( Asian Football Confederation) as well as the Australian Government have been lobbying and applying diplomatic pressure on authorities in Thailand in a bid to release Hakeem and prevent his extradition to Bahrain.
A Football Victoria spokesperson said collection tins will circulate at the ABD stadium during Thursday’s final to help raise funds for the campaign. The spokesperson said that part of the proceeds from the gate could also go towards the campaign depending on the attendance. Football Victoria thanked the Reagan Milstein foundation for kindly stepping aside this season to allow the Community Shield match to be dedicated to the #savehakeem campaign.