Iranian soccer player facing horrifying consequences

During the 2022 FIFA World Cup, members of Iran’s national soccer team showed their support for Iranian women and others protesting back home. While that was happening, another soccer player involved in those protests was putting himself in harm’s way in order to push back on the country’s draconian policies.

Before Iran‘s first match of the World Cup against England, the entire team stayed silent, refusing to sing while the nation’s national anthem played in the stadium. There were assumptions that they would face harsh consequences upon their return to their country.

Meanwhile, Amir Nasr-Azadani, an Iranian soccer player who last played for the Persian Gulf Pro League club Tractor, was among those protesting back home. And he’s now been sentenced to death because of those actions.

CNN reports that an execution platform has been installed in Nasr-Azadani’s hometown of Isfahan and many supporters are flocking there on a pilgrimage as news spreads of potential executions in the days ahead.

“In collaboration with the activist group 1500Tasvir, CNN has verified documents, video, witness testimony, and statements from inside the country which suggest that at least 43 people, including Nasr-Azadani, could face imminent execution,” reads a CNN report from Celine Alkhaldi, Nima Elbagir, Artemis Moshtaghian, and Zahid Mahmood. “Authorities have already executed at least two people in connection with protests in Iran last month, one of whom was hanged publicly.”

Nasr-Azadani has been accused of being involved in the killing of three security officers during protests in Isfahan on November 16, per Iranian state media IRNA. They also reported that the city’s chief justice, Asadullah Jafari, said Nasr-Azadani had been charged with Baghi – or rioting against authorities. The sentence for Baghi, under Iran’s penal code, is the death penalty.

IRNA also reported that the court reviewed “video and sufficient documentation that prove he [Nasr-Azadani] is part of an armed group” and that he confessed to his crimes. CNN noted that their previous investigations have found that Iranian prisoners have been subjected to torture and sexual assault in order to coerce “confessions.”

Last week, Iranian authorities said that the sentence against Nasr-Azadani was provisional “pending further investigation by a Revolutionary Court.”

While authorities initially said that the 26-year-old would be released at some point, that story changed in recent weeks and there are now those who expect him to be marched out to the execution platform in Shahid Alikhani square and executed in the coming days.

[CNN]