It was a glorious sporting event on December 18th, 2022 during the France and Argentina finale. The world felt the palpitating atmosphere in Qatar. Argentina took the coveted FIFA World Cup 2022 trophy to their homeland. The most remarkable moments of protest was from the Iranian team amidst many controversies. The team stood in solidarity with the protesting women in their homeland against the regime. The protests were ablaze which led to the arrests of many people and players including Amir Nasr-Azadani.
There are chants, rallies, marches, and symbolic protests happening in Iran. Women, men, children are protesting for what they rightfully deserve. The protests did take place before, but it was for a niche subject like the economy. Now, the protests are affecting demography engulfing various social aspects and groups. It is against the “morality” police. Amir is now put on death row for protesting. Who is he? And why the pop star Shakira tweeted about it.
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Who Is Amir Nasr-Azadani? Why Is He Facing Execution?
On 13th September 2022, the “morality” police in Iran arrested young girl Mahsa Amini on the suspicion of violating the hijab rules. However, when she was in custody, Mahsa died. This triggered protests against the continued discrimination and extremity tow women in the country. Amini’s death triggered a wide protest across Iran and it spread like a wildfire across different cities including its capital Tehran.
There were more than 400 protestors died as per Human Rights Activists’ News Agency (HRANA)As of December 15th, 2022, 18,200 people were detained by the authorities during the protest.
Many of the detainees are facing capital punishment which also includes the Iranian defender Amir Nasr-Azadani. He was born in Iran’s Isfahan in 1996. Amir played for Sepahan SC. Later, due to his growing ability as a fullback, he represented the nation during many youth football games. Slowly, he climbed the ladder to success with the eventual promotion up in top form. He also played for Tehran Rah-Ahan in 2014 in Iran’s Premier League. Later he became a part of Tractor SC until 2018.
He last played for the team at the Persian Gulf Pro League. In November 2022, when Colonel Esmael Chergahi died at one of the protest sites, three anonymous men took the blame for his death. One of the men had semblance to the 26-year-old football player. As per an Iranian website IranWire, he was sentenced to death for committing “moharebeh”, which is the crime against the almighty. If anyone commits “moharebeh”, Iranian law sentences the person to capital punishment. IranWire reported, “Nasr-Azadani had been present in some nationwide protests, but he was never present in the area where the Colonel was killed. His presence in the protests was short and limited to chanting slogans for a few hours”.
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How Did Shakira And Others React To The Death Sentence Of The Player
The authorities threatened his family to conceal the news or else, the authority said, he will receive the “most severe punishment possible”. On the final day of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, the pop star Shakira paid a tribute to the footballer alerting people about “Amir Nasr”, who is on death row “only for speaking in favor of Women’s Rights”.
She wrote, “Today at the final of the World Cup, I only hope the players on the field and the whole world remembers that there’s a man and fellow footballer called Amir Nasr, on death row, only for speaking in favor of Women’s rights”. The ‘Whenever, Wherever’ singer continued, “I hope there’s more than a minute of silence in our hearts to remember what’s important and more than one voice united screaming for what is just”.
I hope there’s more than a minute of silence in our hearts to remember what’s important and more than one voice united screaming for what is just.
— Shakira (@shakira) December 18, 2022
In September 2022, the Iranian team went to Vienna for their warm-up matches before the World Cup against Senegal and Uruguay. During their second match against Senegal, the team along with its captain Ehsan Hajsafi wore black to signal protest against the conditions in their homeland and hid the colors of their country by wearing all black.
The soccer players’ union Fédération Internationale des Associations de Footballeurs Professionnels (FIFPRO) released a statement calling “for the immediate removal of his punishment”.
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
The international bodies also condemned Iran’s stance on gender equality. The United Nations Economic and Social Council have canceled Iran’s membership in the Commission on the Status of Women. The countries voted in favor of ousting the country. The results were 29-8 votes. It was the first time in the history of the commission, they annulled the membership of a country.
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