Fan walking Spain to Qatar WC feared missing

A Spanish antheral trekking from Madrid to Doha for the 2022 World Cup has not been heard from since the time aft helium crossed into Iran 3 weeks ago, his household said connected Monday.

The experienced trekker, erstwhile paratrooper and fervent shot fan, Santiago Sanchez, was past seen successful Iraq aft hiking done 15 countries and extensively sharing his travel connected a fashionable Instagram relationship implicit the past 9 months.

The 41-year-old antecedently said his volition for his travel to Qatar was to larn however others lived earlier reaching the archetypal World Cup big state successful the Arab world, successful clip for Spain's archetypal lucifer connected Nov. 23.

"The thought of the travel is to motivate and animate different radical to amusement that they tin spell precise acold with precise little," helium told the AP from Sulaymaniyah, a Kurdish metropolis successful northeastern Iraq.

However, Sanchez's household past heard from him successful an audio connection connected Oct. 2, a time aft helium crossed the Iraq-Iran border. He planned to spell to the Iran's capital, Tehran, wherever a tv presumption wanted to interrogation him. His adjacent measurement would person been Bandar Abbas, a larboard successful confederate Iran, wherever helium would question by vessel to Qatar

"We are profoundly worried, we can't halt crying, my hubby and I," his mother, Celia Cogedor, told The Associated Press.

His parents reported him missing connected Oct. 17, and they said Spain's constabulary and diplomats were helping the family.

"After a fewer days we didn't interest astir him not posting, it matched what helium had said. But aft 8 oregon 9 days, my girl and his closest friends... we already began to deliberation that we had to study his disappearance," his parent said.

Spain's Foreign Ministry said it had nary accusation astir Sanchez's whereabouts, adding that the Spanish ambassador to Tehran was handling the matter. Calls to the Iranian Foreign Ministry seeking remark were not instantly returned.

Sanchez antecedently spent clip successful Iran successful 2019 erstwhile helium biked a akin way to get from Madrid to Saudi Arabia.

His parents added: "He has not been making propaganda, neither for nor against immoderate situation. The lone happening that moves him is supporting Real Madrid, and walking to get connected clip to the World Cup successful Qatar."