In what comes as shocking news, Iran's 26-year-old professional footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani has been sentenced to death after fighting for women’s rights, metro.co.uk reported. The decision faced severe backlash and is being opposed worldwide.
Back in September, 22-year-old Iranian woman Mahsa Amini reportedly died in police custody, under suspicious circumstances. She was arrested by Iran government's 'Guidance Patrol', the religious morality police, for 'not wearing her hijab properly in public'. Amini's death resulted in a series of protests in Iran as it was revealed that she died due to police brutality.
Fifpro, which represents 65,000 players worldwide, tweeted last night: ‘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.’
Amir has been sentenced to death for confessing to the murders of two soldiers and a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, during a protest in Iran on November 17. The footballer appeared on television on November 20 to ‘confess’ to the murders. However, as per a report in local media IranWire, Aamir was not present at the place where the deaths took place. He was spotted taking part in a protest for a little while.
Amir is a professional footballer and played as a defender. He started his professional career with Sepahan. After this, in 2015, he started playing for Rah-Ahan and went on to play for sides Tractor and Gol-e Rayhan. However, due to injury, he was away from the field for a long time.