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The young Bahrain The footballer and refugee is back in Australia after being detained in Bangkok, thanks largely to Foster, who has become a commentator.
When the Thai authorities arrested the 25-year-old defender on his honeymoon, he was about to deport him to his native Bahrain – where he feared torture and imprisonment – Foster used his considerable public platform to provoke a stench.
That, Foster said to AFP, was not just about Australia, who wanted to give a young man the opportunity to avoid persecution, but also the fate of football itself.
The 49-year-old defender believes this is the beginning of the process of freeing the soul of sport from the "sordid" grip of big money and politics.
"It was clear to us in football that this child had serious problems, bebecause football would never help him"Foster told AFP.
"Modern sport will always follow the most politically expedient path with respect to the human rights of only one unknown and unknown athlete, unless we fight as we do now . "
– unknown player v royal –
Foster is famous in Australia, crazy about sports, for her eloquent views on local football, and recently launched a campaign join the board of directors of the Football Australia Federation (FFA) before withdrawing his candidacy.
Therefore, his relentless efforts to rally support for Araibi – including his flight to Switzerland to meet FIFA's world governing body – hardly surprises local fans.
But this is the first time that the pundit with salt and pepper hairs between the world of geopolitics.
"None of us has ever done anything like this before, it's completely new," Foster said after a visit to the jailed Araibi to convey messages of support.
The visit touched personally Foster.
"When I met him, it was very moving because I saw a child terrified by his life and I never goteen confronted by this before. "
Two people are at the heart of the case: Araibi, a semi-professional footballer barely known in Australia; and the President of the Asian Football Confederation, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, from Bahrain's powerful ruling family.
Araibi was wanted for damaging a police station following the Arab spring pro-democracy protests, but the former young national footballer insists that the case is false and tied to his critics earlier on Sheikh Salman.
Meanwhile, the King of Bahrain, who in 2016 failed in his offer FIFA, leader of the world football organization, repeatedly denied any allegation of complicity in human rights violations during the pro-democracy protesters' home crackdown.
Foster believes that leaders such as Sheikh Salman represent the growing negative influence of money and politics in football at the expense of his declared values of humanity and tolerance.
"The sport of football being world sport teaches us humanitarian values, "said Foster.
"But it's only in those moments that we are really tested to see if we really believe in these values. "
– Refugees and Australian football –
The relentlessness of Foster also comes from another cause that is important to him – refugees.
After seeing first-hand the enormous contribution of migrants to the transformation of football into national sport, Amnesty International's ambbadador for refugees believes that he has the duty to help Araibi and other people like him.
While Canberra has forged a reputation in recent years for its harsh policies against asylum seekers arriving by boat, the Araibi affair has garnered strong backing from football fans and the community at large.
He encouraged Foster to continue even as fatigue sets in after months of campaigning.
"It's tiring, it's physically and emotionally exhausting, but what?" Hakeem is sitting in a cell with 50 other people and is sleeping on concrete floor, "Foster said.
"We are fighting for a cause in which we firmly believe.… do not underestimate the power to save this young man and compel the sport to better recognize and defend human rights in the future. "
So what does he think of Araibi's release and his imminent return to Australia?
"We are warming ourselves,"He tweeted Tuesday with challenge" while a shot is being taken, a big battle is coming ".
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