By Emb Hashmi
England cricketer and Brummie Moeen Ali auctioned off his controversial headline grabbing Palestine bands through the Asian World as a world exclusive last month, and as soon as it was published the bids were rife with fans and cricket lovers alike eagerly bid for the bands, which came with an exclusive meet and greet and private dinner for the highest bidder.
The silent auction was published as a front cover story in Asian Worlds September’s edition, which was complimented by fast paced social media campaign that saw thousands of people viewing the tweets.
The winning bidder was local man Wasim Riaz from The Association of Muslim schools UK (AMS UK) organisation who sees Moeen Ali as a huge role model not just for himself but also thousands of other young people across the city. Not just because he is a famous cricketer but because he is a local man who has excelled in his filed and kept his morals and ethics in tact not losing his identity.
3Wasim told the Asian World “this is one day I will not forget for a long time I am a great supporter and fan of Moeen’s and meeting him is great. We bid to support the work of the charity partner for this auction Islamic Relief and to highlight Moeen Ali who is a positive role model for young people in the UK.”
The dinner was held and sponsored by local restaurant Al Faisals on Stoney Lane, which is not too far from where young Moeen grew up.
8Moeen told the Asian World “I wanted to auction off my band which I wore to show solidarity with Palestine to help the people of Gaza and raise much need money for them but also to put end the story of my bands on a positive angle. It’s great to see local people auctioning I am a local person and always like to support my community.”
The private dinner was a great success and the £500 pounds raised for the band and other private donations have all been donated to the official charity partners Islamic Relief.
