LONDON — The diplomatic standoff between Qatar and its Arab neighbors spilled into the sports world once again Thursday as a Qatari vice president of Asia’s soccer confederation was barred from traveling to the United Arab Emirates ahead of the region’s top tournament.

Saoud al-Mohannadi, vice president of the Asian Football Confederation, was denied permission to travel from Oman to the U.A.E. after airport officials said he wouldn’t be let into the country. The U.A.E., with Saudi Arabia and a handful of other Mideast countries, broke diplomatic relations and severed all ties with Qatar in 2017.

Mohannadi is the chairman of the A.F.C.’s competitions committee, a group with overall responsibility for the Asian Cup. Prohibiting him from traveling to the U.A.E. is the first sign that long-simmering political tensions in the Gulf are likely to have ramifications for continent’s biggest tournament.

Mohannadi immediately wrote a letter of complaint to Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa, the Bahraini royal who is the A.F.C.’s current president. The organization said in a statement that it was aware of reports that Mohannadi was being denied the right to travel and that it would investigate. The A.F.C. said it had been “assured of visas and entry permits” for tournament organizing committee members and executives. </s> A Qatari official who helped organise the Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates was prevented from flying there on Thursday for the tournament, sources said, as a rift between the two Gulf states showed no signs of abating.

DOHA: A Qatari official who helped organise the Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates was prevented from flying there on Thursday for the tournament, sources said, as a rift between the two Gulf states showed no signs of abating.

Saoud Al-Mohannadi chaired the organising committee for the tournament, which starts on Saturday, and is vice president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

A Qatari official told Reuters that Mohannadi was stopped from boarding an Oman Air flight to Abu Dhabi from Muscat. He was told by the airline that his name was not on a list held at Abu Dhabi airport, another source said.

Abu Dhabi's government communications office did not respond immediately to Reuters' request for comment. But Aref al-Awani, director of the Asian Cup's local organising committee, said on Twitter that nobody was banned from attending the tournament.

Other than in special circumstances, Qataris have been prevented from entering United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt since the four countries launched a diplomatic and trade boycott of Qatar in June 2017.

They accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism, a charge that Doha denies.

Qatar will host the 2022 World Cup, which football's global governing body FIFA hopes to expand to 48 teams from 32, suggesting the country could share hosting duties with neighbouring Gulf states.

The AFC is one of six continental football confederations that make up FIFA.

Abu Dhabi's Awani said reports about banning any individual from attending were untrue. "Whoever is trying to create stories and fictions are used to it, and we are used to ignoring them," he tweeted.

Mohannadi said last month that he would run for president of the 47-country AFC in April.

The other two contenders are the UAE's Mohammed Khalfan Al-Rumaithi and incumbent Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, of Bahrain.

The Asian Cup, held every four years and running until Feb. 1, is considered a key gathering point to lobby AFC members for votes.

Qatar and Saudi Arabia are due to play a group match on Jan. 17 and the Qatari team is expected to arrive in Abu Dhabi this week in time for their first game on Jan. 7.

Qatar has said it will only decide on any expansion of the World Cup after seeing a FIFA feasibility study expected by March. </s> A Qatari official who helped organise the Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates was prevented from flying there on Thursday for the tournament, sources said, as a rift between the two Gulf states showed no signs of abating.

DOHA: A Qatari official who helped organise football's Asian Cup arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Friday, after sources said he was earlier stopped from flying there to attend the tournament.

Saoud Al-Mohannadi chaired the organising committee for the competition, which starts on Saturday, and is vice president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

A Qatari official told Reuters that Mohannadi was on Thursday stopped from boarding an Oman Air flight to Abu Dhabi from Muscat. He was told by the airline that his name was not on a list held at Abu Dhabi airport, another source said.

An AFC spokesman said Mohannadi had arrived in Abu Dhabi on Friday. It was not immediately clear which route he had taken.

Other than in special circumstances, Qataris have been prevented from entering United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt since the four countries launched a diplomatic and trade boycott of Qatar in June 2017.

They accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism, a charge that Doha denies.

Qatar will host the 2022 World Cup, which football's global governing body FIFA hopes to expand to 48 teams from 32, suggesting the country could share hosting duties with neighbouring Gulf states.

Qatar has said it will only decide on any expansion of the World Cup after seeing a FIFA feasibility study expected by March.

The AFC is one of six continental football confederations that make up FIFA.

The Asian Cup is held every four years and the 2019 edition runs until Feb. 1. </s> The United Arab Emirate has, in a politically-motivated move, prevented Qatari Vice President of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Saud al-Muhannadi from taking part in the AFC Asian Cup tournament, which is to start on Saturday. Top Qatari football official Saud al-Mohannadi / Photo by AFP

Al-Mohannadi, who also serves as the vice president of the Qatari Football Association, returned to Doha after being barred from entering the UAE.

The decision has sparked harsh criticisms in Qatar with many media outlets describing it as a childish move ahead of the Asian Cup tournament.

With its childish policy just two days left to the Asian Cup, the UAE has politicized sports by barring Saud al-Muhannadi from entering the country for the international tournament, al-Sharq paper of Qatar reported.

Political tensions between Qatar and a number of its Arab neighbours began last year after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt officially accused it of sponsoring terrorism and cut off diplomatic ties with the country.

The Asian Cup is a quadrennial event which brings together the top teams of Asian for nearly a month. Qatars national football team taking part in the event is set to fly to the UAE on Saturday. Qatar national team will be pitted against Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and North Korea in Group 5.

The 2019 AFC Asian Cup is going to be held in the United Arab Emirates from January 5 to 1 February 1. 24 teams including Iran will compete with each other during the tournament in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, al-Ain and Sharjah cities.

The UAE was announced as the host for the tournament on 9 March 2015, with Iran being the only remaining bidder for the right to host the 2019 finals. It is the second time that the United Arab Emirates hosts the tournament after the 1996 finals.

The decision by the UAE to bar the Qatari official from the tournament came shortly after FIFA President Gianni Infantino said some of Qatars neighbouring countries may be called on to host a few matches of the 2022 FIFA World Cup if studies show a 48-team tournament in four years time is feasible.

"The World Cup will take place in Qatar with 32 teams. Obviously, if we can increase it to 48 teams and make the world happy we should try it." </s> Hakeem al-Araibi, a refugee footballer fighting extradition to Bahrain, will spend at least two more months in jail following a hearing at court in Thailand.

"Don't send me to Bahrain," the 25-year-old pleaded as he appeared barefoot and shackled at the hearing in Bangkok on Monday.

He now faces a further 60 days in jail after a judge refused his request for bail while his legal team prepare a defence.

Despite being granted asylum by Australia, al-Araibi was arrested on his honeymoon by Thai authorities in November following an Interpol red notice which was later revoked.

Ahead of today's hearing, Sky News spoke to al-Araibi at Bangkok's Remand Prison where he is currently sharing a cell with 48 other inmates.

During the strictly controlled 15-minute time slot he repeated his growing fears that he will never see his wife again if he is extradited to Bahrain.

"Maybe they will kill me but 100% I know they will beat me because they beat me when I was 17," he said.

"When they arrested me before, they tortured me, they beat me for nothing and said 'you will never play football again.'"

A player at Melbourne's Pascoe Vale football club before his arrest, he now tries to train in his overcrowded cell but admits, "if I stay here a long time I will never play football again. My body is weak."

A critic of the government and royal family, authorities in Bahrain say he committed an act of vandalism on a police station in 2014, claims he rejects saying he was playing in a televised football match at the time of the alleged crime.

Reporters, campaigners and diplomats from 14 countries, including the UK, lined up to greet the footballer at Bangkok's Ratchadaphisek criminal court on Monday morning.

The case has drawn appeals from Australia's prime minister and soccer's world governing body, FIFA, for Thailand to release al-Araibi and send him back to Australia, on the grounds that he could face torture in Bahrain, which sought the extradition.

The vice president of FIFPro, a union of the FIFA footballers, said outside the court that if Hakeem al-Araibi is not released, his organisation will be pressing for sanctions against the Football Association of Thailand and the Bahraini Football Association.

Thailand's deputy foreign minister has said the matter is for the judiciary to decide.

But Evan Jones, spokesman for the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network, told Sky News: "Prime Minister Chan-o-cha has the authority to intervene in Hakeem's case at any point.

"As a refugee, and as someone that has fled Bahrain in fear of his life, it is imperative that he intervenes immediately."

At night he says he is kept awake by thoughts of his wife, petrified that he will never get to see her face again.

"Tell my wife I love her. I am trying to be strong," he told supporters as he left court today.

Authorities in Bahrain deny allegations of torture and say al-Araibi could challenge his conviction if he returns home.

Defence lawyers have until 5 April to submit a written appeal before the next scheduled hearing on 22 April. </s> On Friday, Tehran said it would deny visas to US wrestlers heading to the World Cup set to take place on February 16-17 in the Iranian city of Kermanshah, in retaliation for US President Donald Trump's executive order restricting immigration from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days.

"Following the court ruling suspending #MuslimBan & the requests from the Iranian Wrestling Federation & FILA [currently United World Wrestling], US Wrestlers' visa will be granted," Zarif wrote on his Twitter.

​On Friday night, US District Judge James Robart in Seattle ordered a temporary nationwide halt to the entry ban, which has since been appealed by the US federal government. At the moment, the ban holds and several airlines have announced that they would fly passengers who were barred from entering the United States under the executive order.

Trump's executive order, signed on January 27, also blocked refugees from coming in the United States for 120 days and indefinitely suspended the entry of Syrian refugees. </s> BANGKOK (AFP)- A refugee footballer fighting an extradition request pleaded for his freedom Monday, saying "please don't send me to Bahrain" as he arrived in shackles at a Bangkok court, which extended his detention by another two months.

Hakeem al-Araibi, a Bahraini refugee and Australian resident, fears torture and even death if he is returned to his homeland.

Araibi, who has been held in Thai custody since November following Bahrain's extradition request, arrived in court in chains and pleaded with reporters and football officials to help secure his freedom.

"Please don't send me to Bahrain," he said, as former Australian football captain Craig Foster and other campaigners turned up to offer support to the embattled player.

"Your wife sends her love. Hakeem, Australia is with you, mate," Foster shouted.

Araibi was stopped at a Bangkok airport in November when he arrived in Thailand for a holiday and has been held in detention since then as Thai courts decide whether to send him back to the Gulf State.

The court said Araibi would be given 60 days "to object (to) the extradition request" and would need to present his case in April when the judges reconvene.

In addition to Foster, who has been leading a protest in the football community for Araibi's freedom, Australian premier Scott Morrison has called on his Thai counterpart to release the 25-year-old, saying that returning him to Bahrain would infringe on his rights under international human rights law.

Araibi had played for Bahrain's national youth team before he fled his homeland and was granted asylum in Australia, where he plays for the semi-professional club Pascoe Vale FC.

"We believe if Hakeem is not released there has to be some sanctions levied on Bahrain and Thailand," Australian former football player Francis Awaritefe told reporters outside the court, adding that both countries "should at least be excluded from being able to host" international matches.

Representatives from the Australian embassy, as well as FIFA's Federico Addiechi, also attended the hearing.

Araibi was convicted in absentia on charges of vandalising a police station in Bahrain, but says he was out of the country playing in a match at the time of the alleged offence.

The player has said he believes he is being targeted over his criticism of AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, a member of Bahrain's ruling family.

A Bahrain official said last month Araibi "has all the rights and opportunities to defend himself" in the criminal case against him, and that he may also appeal the guilty verdict. </s> BANGKOK — A soccer player 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.

“Please speak to Thailand, don’t send me to Bahrain. Bahrain won’t defend me,” a chained Hakeem al-Araibi shouted to reporters outside court as he was escorted by prison guards into the hearing.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison sent a letter last month urging Thailand to stop the extradition, and soccer governing bodies and human rights activists have urged the country to let him return to Australia where he lives and plays for a semi-professional team in Melbourne.

The court could order another detention while his extradition is processed, or if al-Araibi refuses to return to Bahrain willingly, a trial would be held. Thai officials previously said the length of the trial would depend on how many witnesses are called by each side.

Al-Araibi, 25, a former Bahraini national team player, says he fled his home country due to political repression. Bahrain wants him returned to serve a 10-year prison sentence he received in absentia in 2014 for an arson attack that damaged a police station, which he denies.

Al-Araibi was detained upon his arrival in Bangkok in November while on a holiday, and subsequently was held pending the completion of the extradition request by Bahrain.

“Your wife sends her love, Hakeem. All of Australia is with you. Be strong. Football is with you,” former Australia national soccer team captain Craig Foster said to Hakeem outside court. Foster has been in Bangkok to push for al-Araibi’s release.

“I think the facts of this case are a very simple one. Hakeem is a refugee. He is a human rights defender and therefore under international law he should not be subject to these proceedings,” Francis Awaritefe, vice-president of FIFPro, an international soccer players’ body, said at the court.

Hakeem has said he was blindfolded and had his legs beaten while he was held in Bahrain previously. He said he believed he was targeted for arrest because of his Shiite faith and because his brother was politically active in Bahrain. Bahrain has a Shiite majority but is ruled by a Sunni monarchy.

A court filing made last week by Thai prosecutors noted that while Thailand and Bahrain do not have an extradition treaty, extradition is still possible by law if Bahrain makes an official request, which they did, and if the crime is punishable by over a year, is not politically motivated or a military violation. </s> SYDNEY (AP) - Australian soccer authorities have canceled a game in Thailand to protest the continued detention in Bangkok of a refugee player who is fighting extradition to Bahrain.

Football Federation Australia announced Wednesday it had scrapped the game against China, a scheduled warmup ahead of next month's qualifiers for the Asian under-23 championships.

Former Australia national team captain Craig Foster and the Australian and international players' unions have been leading a campaign for the release of Hakeem al-Araibi, a refugee who lives and plays for a semi-professional club in Australia and has been held in Thailand since November at the request of Bahrain.

"Australia's national teams are united in their support for Hakeem al-Araibi and we call on the community to continue to campaign for his release," Australia coach Graham Arnold said.

The 25-year-old al-Araibi, a former Bahraini national team player, has said he fled his home country due to political repression and fears he is at risk of being tortured if he returns to Bahrain.

Al-Araibi's supporters have said he should be freed and is protected under his status as a refugee with Australian residency. Foster and the players unions' have called on the International Olympic Committee to consider sporting sanctions against Thailand and Bahrain.

The Australian government has urged Thailand to exercise its legal discretion to free al-Araibi, who told a Bangkok court on Monday that he refuses to be voluntarily extradited to Bahrain.

Al-Araibi will stay in custody until an April 22 trial to determine whether Thai authorities will send him to Bahrain or release him so he can return to Australia.

A chained al-Araibi yelled to reporters outside court as he was escorted by prison guards into Monday's hearing in Bangkok: "Please speak to Thailand, don't send me to Bahrain. Bahrain won't defend me."

Bahrain wants al-Araibi returned to serve a 10-year prison sentence he received in absentia in 2014 for an alleged arson attack that damaged a police station, which he denies.

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)
Saoud al-Mohannadi, vice president of the Asian Football Confederation, is banned from traveling to the United Arab Emirates from Oman.