Updated January 15, 2019 07:27:35

Photo: FIFA has called for Hakeem AlAraibi, left, to be released from Thai detention. (AP: Gemunu Amarasinghe)

Football's world governing body has had its commitment to its own human rights policy called in to question as Australian-based Bahraini footballer Hakeem AlAraibi, marks 50 days in a Thai prison.

Speaking at the Asian Cup finals in the UAE, chief executive of the Professional Footballers Association John Didulica said the time had come to bring the issue to a head.

"I think we have a stunning conflict at the apex of the Asian Football Confederation which sees the president of the federation, Sheikh Salman, also being an influential Bahraini — and we have a Bahraini international footballer jailed in Thailand," he told the ABC.

"To add an additional sting to that, Hakeem spoke out about Sheikh Salman's previous tilt at the FIFA presidency in 2015, drawing on his experience in having been a tortured athlete and urging the football community not to support Sheikh Salman."

Sheikh Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa was one of Bahrain's leading sports officials when 150 of the country's athletes were arrested and allegedly tortured for their involvement in Arab Spring protests.

By virtue of being the current AFC president, Sheikh Salman is also a senior vice-president of world governing body, FIFA.

Under the leadership of Gianni Infantino, FIFA has tried to put an era of bribery and corruption behind it, in part by adopting a human rights policy and creating an independent Human Rights Advisory Board.

FIFA's human rights policy states the organisation is "committed to taking measures, based on in-depth due diligence processes, to avoid causing or contributing to human rights impacts through its own activities and remediating such impacts when they occur".

FIFA has called for Mr AlAraibi to be released from Thai detention after a questionable Interpol red alert saw him arrested as he flew into Bangkok to begin his honeymoon in late November 2018.

In the 50 days since Mr AlAraibi was jailed, Sheikh Salman has been silent on the issue — that puts him at odds with FIFA's own statutes.

"The role of the president of the Asian Confederation has those obligations but equally, as the president of the AFC you become senior vice president of FIFA, so you are leading office holder in FIFA 2.0," Mr Didulica said.

"FIFA 2.0 is an organisation we all had hoped had evolved, had reformed, that had restructured its governance to ensure they were able to uphold the highest standards of conduct.

"In so far as the protection of their most vulnerable participants, we are seeing FIFA failing at its first test.

"The silence of Sheikh Salman and the AFC on this matter means they are not promoting human rights as the statutes of FIFA and the AFC oblige them to do."

Sheikh Salman's term as the AFC president expires in April, but he is running for re-election.

Photo: Mr AlAraibi says the conditions in his cell are poor. (ABC News: Sophie McNeill)

"As a consequence we see it as impossible for him — not only to continue as president — but absurd for him to now be allowed to re-stand for re-election.

"It certainly runs counter to what the standards of FIFA 2.0 are."

Mr Didulica said the PFA and other player-based organisations around the world are reviewing their position as they continue to advocate for Mr AlAraibi's release.

"Given the silence we've had it's critical for us now to elevate the dialogue we are having and we will need to really reconsider what steps we take to bring this to a head."

When contacted for comment, the AFC sent a statement that said: "AFC are working with FIFA and the Football Association of Thailand and other stakeholders on this matter. As our work is on-going we will be making no further comment at this time."

FIFA is yet to respond.

Topics: refugees, immigration, soccer, human, law-crime-and-justice, sport, australia, thailand, bahrain

First posted January 15, 2019 06:07:33