Qatar helps family stranded due to blockade

An Argentine family landed home late Wednesday after the Qatar-owned French football club PSG paid for their flights following weeks stranded in Doha, according to people involved.Valeria Marsili, 42, and her three daughters had their flights cancelled without reimbursement on June 5 after Qatar’s neighbours imposed a blockade on the country.They had been visiting Marsili’s husband and father of the girls, Gabriel Aguero, 41, who works as a chef in Doha.They could not afford the $6,000 to buy new tickets.After AFP reported their plight, the family received an offer of help from the son of Marcelo Simonian, a football agent representing Argentina and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) star Javier Pastore.The Simonians contacted the Qatari authorities and Nasser al-Khelaifi, chairman of Qatar Sports Investments, the group that owns PSG.“My son told me what was going on, I told the story to Nasser,” Marcelo Simonian told AFP by e-mail.“He automatically told me that he will take care of the problem and he will resolve it.”After Nasser’s intervention the Qatari government “gave the new tickets for the family for free,” Simonian added.Marsili and the three girls landed back in Buenos Aires late Wednesday on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha via Sao Paulo.Aguero stayed on in Doha.“We’re tired but content,” Marsili told AFP at the Ezeiza International Airport after more than 20 hours of travel.“Fortunately this has been resolved and we’re back home again.”Marsili and her daughters Bernadita and Renata – 13 year-old twins – and eight-year-old Emilia were welcomed at the airport by friends and relatives.Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut off diplomatic ties and imposed the blockade on Qatar in June.