Sports World Reacts To Controversial Brittney Griner Move
SAITAMA, JAPAN - AUGUST 06: Brittney Griner #15 of Team United States looks on against Serbia during the second half of a Women's Basketball Semifinals game on day fourteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Saitama Super Arena on August 06, 2021 in Saitama, Japan. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
While Brittney Griner is home safe in the United States, another fellow American remains in rough shape abroad.
Zack Shahin, an American who has been in a Dubai prison for 15 years, is making headlines this weekend, as his family is furious with the decision to bring Griner home but leave him in prison abroad.
“I feel like the fact that the United Arab Emirates helped broker the deal for Griner’s release was kind of a slap in the face to my family and I,” Ramy Shahin, Zack’s son, said. “And they gave my father’s case… not an ounce of respect.”
“He’s an American citizen that’s been abandoned by the Biden administration as well as the State Department,” he added. “Nobody has answered our plea for help, and then seeing Brittney Griner get all the attention… maybe we’re not famous enough. We’re just an ordinary American family, and they completely ignored us.”
The Biden administration opted to trade arms dealer Viktor Bout for Griner, to bring the WNBA star home. While it's good to have Griner back, it's understandable for families of other foreign prisoners to be upset.
"Zack Shahin is dying, they got Britney Griner from Russia and didn’t care about him, he was there longer. WHERE IS GRINER AND HER GIRLFRIEND, they said they would do their best to get him out. They got what they want and screw Zack, he was wrongfully detained. GET ZACK OUT NOW," one fan wrote.
"I have great sympathy for Shahin & his family and hope he can return home to the US soon, but to compare this case to Griner’s is ridiculous. And to blame BIden when he was first imprisoned under Bush shows the only motivation of this piece is political. Fox don’t care about him," one fan added.
"As Biden and UAE worked for Griner release before Christmas, Shahin has been “rotting” 15 YEARS in Dubai dungeon… lowliest of political maneuvers," one fan added.
US' Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) basketball player Brittney Griner, who was detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport and later charged with illegal possession of cannabis, arrives to a hearing at the Khimki Court, outside Moscow on August 4, 2022. - Lawyers for US basketball star Brittney Griner, who is standing trial in Russia on drug charges, said on July 26, 2022 they hoped she would receive a "lenient" sentence. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP) (Photo by KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images)
Of course, it's not Griner's fault that she was brought home by the American government, while others were not.
Hopefully, the U.S. Government will able to bring more home.
