Boxer Amir Khan removed from US flight ‘over face mask row’

Disgusted to be banned by American Airlines, says British-Pakistani pugilist

British-Pakistani boxer Amir Khan has said that he along with his friend was removed from a flight in the US after an alleged dispute over his colleague's face mask.

“Disgusted to be banned by @AmericanAir and @traveloneworld for not been able to fly to training camp, i got escorted by police off the plane for no reason. I would like to see evidence for any wrong doings!,” he wrote in a tweet from his official handle.

Disgusted to be banned by @AmericanAir and @traveloneworld for not been able to fly to training camp, i got escorted by police off the plane for no reason. I would like to see evidence for any wrong doings! #AAteam #Notallterrorists pic.twitter.com/dL3UfFcYYl

— Amir Khan (@amirkingkhan) September 18, 2021

In a video posted to Twitter, the boxer said: "I was taken off the plane today when I was going to training camp to Colorado Springs, by the police.

"Obviously a complaint was made by American Airlines staff, they said that my colleague's mask was not high enough and not up, that they had to stop the plane and take me and my friend off when I did nothing wrong."

He added: "Now I have to reschedule another airplane to travel back to training camp which is really upsetting, for no reason this was and I'm just so disgusted that American Airlines would do this to us and ban me from travelling."

Also read: Amir Khan complains about PSB ‘creating hurdles’ during virus support

The airline said the flight from Newark Airport to Dallas-Fort Worth returned to the gate after two people reportedly "refused to comply with crew requests".

It denied that police had intervened.

A spokesperson for the airline said: "Our customer relations team is reaching out to Mr Khan to learn more about his experience and reinforce the importance of policies implemented for the safety of our customers and crew."

(With input from BBC)