Sydney Swans defender Aliir Aliir name-dropped in speech to United Nations by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull
INSPIRATIONAL Sydney Swans young gun Aliir Aliir’s story has gone global as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull praised him at the United Nations.
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INSPIRATIONAL Sydney Swans young gun Aliir Aliir’s story, combined with his unbelievable talent, has seen fans all over Australia praising the defender.
But now people from all over the world have been made aware of the former Sudanese refugee’s pathway to elite sport in a speech given by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to the United Nations.
The PM’s address to the UN General Assembly in New York used Aliir’s journey to highlight the importance of migrants in Australia’s “multicultural story”.
Aliir’s family fled Sudan’s civil war with the Swan born in a Kenyan refugee camp, where he spent the first seven years of his life before setting in Australia.
“For Aliir, his family, and 150,000 other men, women, and children, Kakuma refugee camp was their home,” Turnbull said.
“The camp provided the bare necessities of meals and shelter, but sports equipment was unimaginable. Aliir and his friends would improvise with a balloon wrapped with strips of old clothing to serve as a football.”
Aliir began playing Australian football at the age of 14 and was drafted by Sydney with pick 44 in the 2013 national draft.
He then debuted at senior level in Round 6 against the Brisbane Lions before establishing himself as a key plank in the Swans’ defence, playing every game since Round 16.
“Tall, fast, agile, Aliir was a natural for Australian rules football and once he took up the game hasn’t looked back,” Turnbull told the UN.
“Now 22, Aliir is one of the first Sudanese immigrants to play AFL and has become a role model in our multicultural nation, especially for young people in Sydney.
“Australia would not be the country it is today without their contribution. Their stories are our stories, their successes are our successes.”
Originally published as Sydney Swans defender Aliir Aliir name-dropped in speech to United Nations by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull
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