British Boxer Amir Khan 'Kicked Off' US Flight Over Row About Colleague's Face Mask

© AP Photo / John LocherAmir Khan attends a news conference at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. (File)
Amir Khan attends a news conference at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. (File) - Sputnik International, 1920, 19.09.2021
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This is not the first time boxer Amir Khan has been involved in a controversy. In 2006, the 34-year-old star was charged with dangerous driving and was handed a six-month driving ban. Khan suffered another setback in 2017, when an alleged sex tape of him leaked online.
Former boxing world champion Amir Khan has disclosed that he was removed from an aircraft in the United States after a row erupted over his friend's face mask.
The 34-year-old, who is known for his philanthropy and has also featured in television shows like I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, posted a video on Twitter, in which he claimed that he was escorted off the plane by the police for "no reason" whatsoever.
Khan alleged that the American Airlines even banned him from travelling on future flights on Saturday.
The Manchester-born pugilist said that he was heading to Colorado after taking the flight from New York to start his preparations for his next fight, but was "disgusted" with the treatment he received.
Narrating the incident in a video he tweeted, Khan asserted that the airline's decision came after their staff made a complaint about his colleague's mask.
"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 said.
"They kicked us both off, I was sat on 1A, he was sat on 1B - I find it so disgusting and so disrespectful, I was supposed to go to Colorado Springs for a training camp and now I'm back in New York for another day," Khan 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."
"I'm sure there must be cameras on the airplane that they could see, or someone should see, to see that if my colleague really was bad in anyway or caused a scene in a way where he had to be taken off the plane - I've never seen this happen before," he concluded.
An American Airlines spokesperson confirmed the incident, before saying that despite repeated requests, Khan and his friend failed in adhering to "face covering requirements" and that's why the airline was forced to remove them from the flight.
"Prior to takeoff, American Airlines Flight 700, with service from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), returned to the gate to deplane two customers who reportedly refused to comply with repeated crew member requests to stow luggage, place cell phones in airplane mode and adhere to federal face covering requirements," the spokesman said.
The spokesman denied that the airline has banned Khan or his friend from travelling on its flights. However, he did say that the company's customer relations team was trying to contact the celebrated boxer.
"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," the spokesman emphasised.
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