The Syrian refugee who made headlines last week after getting tripped by a Hungarian camerawoman got a warm welcome in Madrid on Sept. 17. The 52-year-old father has been offered a job to work with Spain’s national soccer coaching school CENAFE, after members of the school learned that the refugee had coached back in Syria.
“I love you, I love Madrid,” said Osama Abdul Mohsen yesterday to reporters at Madrid’s Atocha train station, reports NBC. “Thank you for all. This is very, very important for my life. I am here with you. Thank you very much.”
According to CNN, CENAFE president Miguel Angel Galan was motivated to find Mohsen after a video of the Hungarian camerawoman kicking him went viral on Sept. 8. Galan reached out to a Spanish journalist in an attempt to track Mohsen down; the pair eventually found Mohsen in Munich with the help of a soccer player who speaks Arabic.
CENAFE will pay for Mohsen and his two sons to live in the suburb Getafe, as well as help them apply for asylum. Luis Miguel Pedraza, a spokesperson for CENAFE, told CNN on Wednesday: “We’re giving him a hand as a humanitarian gesture. Later we’ll look for something. He’s interested in our school.”
Mohsen’s warm welcome in Madrid continued today, Sept. 18, when he and his sons toured the Real Madrid soccer stadium and met with the club president.