FIFPRO, the world union of professional soccer players, responded with outrage upon learning that Iranian player Amir Nasr-Azadani faces a possible death sentence for partaking in protests that have erupted around the country in recent months.
“FIFPRO is shocked and sickened by reports that professional footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani faces execution in Iran after campaigning for women’s rights and basic freedom in his country. We stand in solidarity with Amir and call for the immediate removal of his punishment,” the organization tweeted on Monday.
FIFPRO is shocked and sickened by reports that professional footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani faces execution in Iran after campaigning for women’s rights and basic freedom in his country.
We stand in solidarity with Amir and call for the immediate removal of his punishment. pic.twitter.com/vPuylCS2ph
— FIFPRO (@FIFPRO) December 12, 2022
According to CBS News, the Iranian city of Isfahan’s judiciary chief Abdullah Jafari told Iranian media that Amir Nasr-Azadani was arrested in the city two days after allegedly participating in an “armed riot” wherein three security agents were killed on September 16.
“Jafari said the 26-year-old had been accused of ‘rebellion, membership in illegal gangs, collusion to undermine security and therefore assisting in moharabeh’ — or ’emnity against God’ — a capital crime in the Islamic republic,” noted CBS News.
The protests in Iran sparked on September 16 following the death of 22-year-old Iranian Kurd woman Mahsa Amini, who was killed by the country’s morality police for violating the strict dress code for women. As many as 11 people have been sentenced to death over the protests, while another nine face possible death sentences, according to Amnesty International.
The Iranian soccer team issued a protest of their own during the World Cup tournament in Qatar when they refused to sing the country’s national anthem ahead of the match against England, a move they reversed in subsequent matches against Wales and the USA.
Following Iran’s loss to the United States in the World Cup, Iranians took to the streets to celebrate their country’s defeat after a hard-fought game that saw star player Christian Pulisic taking a serious injury to score the winning goal.
Prior to the game, some Iranians openly expressed hope that the United States would come out victorious.
“It’s not just some people in Iran, it is the majority of people in Iran that want the U.S. to win,” an anonymous Iranian woman told Fox News.
“Because a soccer team should bring honor to its people. They must be our champions,” she added. “But right now people on the street are getting murdered. And people are burying children after they were killed, and the soccer team of the mullahs met [President] Ebrahim Raisi and celebrates someone’s birthday and laughed together. And they didn’t pay attention to the people. The football players just wanted to be the center of the attention.”
The American victory came after Iran attempted to have the United States kicked out of the World Cup over a social media post that shared Iran’s flag minus the emblem of the Islamic Republic as a show of solidarity with “the women in Iran fighting for basic human rights.” The U.S. Soccer Federation deleted the image of the flag after the initial uproar. Iran subsequently filed a complaint with FIFA’s Ethics Committee demanding that the U.S. receive a 10-game ban for “offending the dignity” of the nation.
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