45 Facts About Craig Foster

Craig Foster was the 419th Socceroo, and the 40th captain of the national team.

Craig Foster is known for his human rights advocacies, and is a vocal critic of the Australian Government's treatment of asylum seekers.

Craig Foster played a high-profile role in the campaign to free Bahraini footballer Hakeem al-Araibi from detention in Thailand in from late 2018 to early 2019, later co-writing a book about it, Fighting for Hakeem, which became the working title of a 2023 documentary film.

Craig Foster was elected chair of the Australian Republic Movement in November 2022.

Craig Andrew Foster was born in 1969 in Lismore, New South Wales.

Craig Foster attended Kadina High School, periodically returning to speak and motivate students.

Craig Foster holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Football Business and a Master in Sport Management degree from the Johan Cruyff Institute.

Craig Foster has said his time at Sydney Croatia is what began his interest in multiculturalism.

Craig Foster moved to Victorian club Sunshine George Cross in 1989 before returning to Sydney to play for Avala in the NSW Super League in 1992.

Craig Foster returned to Australia to play with Northern Spirit, based in North Sydney, until his retirement from the game in 2003.

Craig Foster represented Australia at under-16 level, reaching the quarter finals at the 1985 FIFA U-16 World Championship in China.

Craig Foster was the 419th player for the Australia national team from 1996 to 2000, earning 29 caps, and was the team's 40th captain, and scoring nine goals.

Craig Foster started his on-air career with the Seven Network, serving as a soccer analyst and principal commentator on their then pay TV sport channel, C7 Sport, as well as regularly appearing as a panellist on SBS' weekly soccer program On The Ball.

Craig Foster later joined SBS full-time, working with Les Murray and the Johnny Warren at the helm of SBS' hugely successful soccer broadcasts.

Craig Foster is remembered for his commentary during the World Cup Qualifier in November 2005 against Uruguay, and during the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Foster was part of the SBS commentary team from Germany.

In 2007, Craig Foster was invited to be the Australian representative to judge the Ballon d'Or, the highest award given to an individual soccer player.

In June 2020, it was announced that Craig Foster would be leaving SBS, after working for 18 years as a sports presenter.

Craig Foster joined Stan Sport in August 2020, in time to co-present, along with UK presenter Max Rushden, several big UEFA competitions: the Champions League the Europa League, and the Conference League.

Craig Foster has been a strong advocate for players' rights, having served for five years on Professional Footballers Australia Executive, as a Director of the PFA's commercial wing, PFAM, and formerly as Interim Chief Executive of the Australian Soccer Players' Association.

Craig Foster is a life member of the PFA, and in 2016 was appointed interim chairman of the PFA.

Craig Foster is a member of the Australian Multicultural Council, since 2018 and as of March 2022.

Craig Foster has long been an advocate for footballers and has been human rights and refugee ambassador for Amnesty International.

Craig Foster has often used his position as presenter and chief football analyst at SBS to criticise unethical practices in the game.

Craig Foster was vocal in campaigning on behalf of Bahraini footballer Hakeem al-Araibi, who was granted protection as a political refugee in Australia in 2014 but was detained upon arrival in Thailand in November 2018 while on his honeymoon with his wife owing to an Interpol red notice put out by Bahrain.

Craig Foster travelled to Switzerland to present a petition with more than 50,000 signatures demanding the release of the detained footballer and held talks with general secretary Fatma Samoura FIFA on 29 January 2019, spent time in Thailand speaking to al-Araibi's legal team and visited al-Araibi in prison.

Craig Foster said after the release of al-Araibi that the fight had just begun, and after the incident had shone light on the atrocities against athletes during and after the Bahraini uprising of 2011, what was needed is a full investigation into the matter by both FIFA and the IOC to ensure that justice is done for all athletes.

Craig Foster plays a prominent role in the 2023 documentary film The Defenders by Adelaide filmmaker Matthew Bate, which tells the story the campaign to free al-Araibi from prison.

Craig Foster is credited as co-writer on the film, as some of the script was based on his book, Fighting for Hakeem, which was the working title of the film.

On 22 February 2019, Craig Foster published an open letter to the Australian prime minister Scott Morrison and leader of the opposition, Bill Shorten, in The Sydney Morning Herald, in which, after thanking them for their assistance in helping to free al-Araibi, he addressed the issue of how Australia treats its asylum seekers.

Craig Foster said that he was urging others to uphold their human rights obligations in allowing al-Araibi to return to Australia, while "we are failing to uphold our own".

Craig Foster became the face of Amnesty Australia's "Game Over" campaign in late 2019, which has been supported by high-profile sportspeople such as Liz Ellis, Benny Elias, Paul Roos, Ian Chappell, Lisa Sthalekar, Paul Wade, Frank Farina, Alex Tobin, Craig Moore; musician Jimmy Barnes, actors Bryan Brown and Anthony La Paglia musicians and many others.

On 23 March 2022 Craig Foster delivered the Australian National University's annual "Australia and the World Lecture", which had been postponed from 2021 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, at the National Press Club of Australia.

Craig Foster bemoaned the lack of good leadership on these issues, and said that the colonisation of Australia had been underpinned by racism, and is still present in policy and media coverage; that it is a "festering sore on the national psyche".

Craig Foster was a vocal critic of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, particularly on the issue of wage theft and labour abuses on the migrant workers that built the World Cup infrastructure.

Craig Foster was formerly Director of the Council on Australia Latin America Relations with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Craig Foster was the chair of the Australian Republic Movement Up until May 2024, he was the co-chair of ARM alongside former Olympian and senator Nova Peris, who resigned to disagreements with Craig Foster's criticism of Israel during the Gaza war.

Peris, a supporter of Israel, accused Craig Foster of making "inaccurate and divisive public statements" in regards to the war.

Craig Foster has volunteered with Play for Lives, a response to the COVID-19 pandemic by sporting people and bodies, which began in Australia and expanded internationally.

In 2019, the Craig Foster was recognised by the Australian Financial Review as a "True Australian Leader", while The Sydney Morning Herald listed him as one of the "People that Defined 2019".

Craig Foster was a finalist for NSW Australian of the Year in 2021.

In 2021, Craig Foster was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to multiculturalism, to human rights and refugee support organisations, and to football.

Craig Foster is a former columnist for the Sun Herald, and writes for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Guardian, and other publications.

Craig Foster is married to Lara Craig Foster, and they have three children, Jake, Jemma, and Charli.

Craig Foster wrote a dedication to them in Fighting for Hakeem.

Craig Foster says he is an introvert, who does not relish social situations.