Amir Khan feels removal from American Airlines flight ‘racially motivated’

The British professional boxer Amir Khan has said he felt his removal from an American Airlines flight in the US was racially motivated. Khan, who was born and raised in Bolton by his Pakistani parents, said he and his colleague were “picked on” because they were “two Asian boys” and it was a week after the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US. The 34-year-old and his colleague were on their way to a training camp in Colorado on 18 September when they were removed from Flight 700 to Dallas-Fort Worth at Newark Liberty international airport in New Jersey. American Airlines has said Khan and his colleague were “deplaned” because they repeatedly refused to comply with crew member requests to stow luggage, place phones in airplane mode and adhere to face mask requirements. But Khan has insisted none of this is true, conceding only that he was asked to turn his phone off once, which he did immediately. Asked by Kay Burley on Sky News 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.”<br/>