Soccer player sentenced to death in Iran

Iranian defender Amir Nasr-Azadani, 26, was charged with “treason to the Islamic Republic of Iran” and sentenced to death. The reason is his participation in protests that took over the country three months ago – Amir would be involved in the death of a security agent.

Abdullah Jafari, head of the Judiciary Authority in Isfahan, a city in the central west of the country, said on Sunday (11) that Amir was involved in organizing a protest during which three security agents were killed.

The defender has been detained since November 18 and is suspected of having killed one of the three agents, according to the Tasnim news agency.

At least 458 people died in the repression of the demonstrations, according to a report by the NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR), and at least 14,000 people were arrested, according to the UN.

The world trade union of professional players, FIFPro, declared itself shocked by the death sentence for the player.

“FIFPro is shocked and disgusted by the news that professional soccer player Amir Nasr-Azadani may be executed in Iran after campaigning for women’s rights and fundamental freedoms in the country. We stand in solidarity with Amir,” the union wrote in the Monday on your Twitter

The reaction follows the outcry caused in recent days by the execution of two young people arrested during the demonstrations.

The protests began after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish girl, died at the hands of the Iranian morality police for violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code.

Former Iranian player Ali Karimi, an ardent supporter of the protests, supported the football player with a tweet: “Amir Nasr-Azadani is one of the victims of this government that kills children. Do not execute Amir”.

Amir is a defender for the Iranian club Iranjavan and even played for the under-16 team of their national team. He started his career at Rah-Ahan, from Tehran, the team for which he debuted in the Iranian Premier League.