Fan strolling from Spain to Qatar World Cup feared lacking in Iran

A Spanish man trekking from Madrid to Doha for the 2022 World Cup has not been heard from for the reason that day after he crossed into Iran three weeks in the past, his household stated on Monday.

The skilled trekker, former paratrooper and fervent soccer fan, Santiago Sanchez, was final seen in Iraq after mountain climbing by means of 15 international locations and extensively sharing his journey on a preferred Instagram account over the past 9 months.

The 41-year-old beforehand stated his intention for his journey to Qatar was to learn the way others lived earlier than reaching the primary World Cup host nation within the Arab world, in time for Spain’s first match on Nov. 23.

“The thought of the journey is to encourage and encourage different individuals to indicate that they will go very far with little or no,” he informed the AP from Sulaymaniyah, a Kurdish metropolis in northeastern Iraq.

Nonetheless, Sanchez’s household final heard from him in an audio message on Oct. 2, a day after he crossed the Iraq-Iran border. He deliberate to go to the Iran’s capital, Tehran, the place a tv station wished to interview him. His subsequent step would have been Bandar Abbas, a port in southern Iran, the place he would journey by boat to Qatar

“We’re deeply fearful, we will not cease crying, my husband and I,” his mom, Celia Cogedor, informed The Related Press.

His mother and father reported him lacking on Oct. 17, and so they stated Spain’s police and diplomats have been serving to the household.

“After a number of days we did not fear about him not posting, it matched what he had stated. However after 8 or 9 days, my daughter and his closest mates… we already started to suppose that we needed to report his disappearance,” his mom stated.

Spain’s Overseas Ministry stated it had no details about Sanchez’s whereabouts, including that the Spanish ambassador to Tehran was dealing with the matter. Calls to the Iranian Overseas Ministry in search of remark weren’t instantly returned.

Sanchez beforehand hung out in Iran in 2019 when he biked an identical path to get from Madrid to Saudi Arabia.

His mother and father added: “He has not been making propaganda, neither for nor in opposition to any scenario. The one factor that strikes him is supporting Actual Madrid, and strolling to get on time to the World Cup in Qatar.”