British boxer, Amir Khan believes his removal from an American Airlines flight in the United States was racially motivated, IgbereTV reports.
Khan, who was born and raised in Bolton by his Pakistani parents, was escorted alongside a a colleague off a plane by authorities while attempting to fly to a training camp in Colorado from New York on 18 September.
The airline said Khan and his colleague ‘reportedly refused to comply with repeated crew member requests’, alleging they failed to store luggage, comply with federal rules on face masks and put their phones on airplane mode.
Khan has strongly denied those claims and insisted he and his colleague were ‘picked on’ because they were ‘two Asian boys’ in an incident that took place a week after the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attack.
Asked by Kay Burley if he felt his removal was racially motivated, Khan said: “Definitely definitely. I’m going to stand by that. It was 9/11 a week before that, then having two Asian boys sat at the front … I hope I’m wrong. But I had done nothing wrong. I got kicked off a plane for no reason and it was embarrassing for us.”
