Sardar Azmoun, the star of the team that will play the World Cup in Qatar, explained in particular on Instagram that the players were not authorized by their federation to communicate on the situation in the country.
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Nearly two weeks after the death of Mahsa Amini, following her arrest by the morality police for not having worn the veil “correctly”, the uprising of the population continues in Iran. And it now finds an echo within the Iranian national football team. Several players have openly expressed their support for the movement in recent hours, Monday, September 26, when the NGO Iran Human Rights counts at least 75 dead since the start of protests in the country. The player from German club Leverkusen and star of Iran, Sardar Azmoun, was the most virulent.
Sardar Azmoun, who plays for @bayer04_en & is now in Austria with Iran’s national team for a friendly match against Senegal, says he couldn’t remain silent despite the team’s rules.
“I don’t care if I’m sacked. Shame on you for killing people so easily. Viva Iranian women.” pic.twitter.com/z3c0Et699g— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) September 25, 2022
In stories posted on his Instagram account, and since deleted, the player explained that Iranian internationals had been banned from speaking out on the issue by their federation. Ban that the attacker defied, and whose profile was almost completely erased.
“The [punition] ultimate goal is to be expelled from the national team, which is a small price to pay for even a single lock of hair from an Iranian womanwrote Azmoun. It will never be erased from our consciousness. I’m not afraid of being ousted. Shame on you for killing the people so easily and long live the women of Iran.” “If they are Muslims, may God make me an infidel” he concluded, two months before the 2022 World Cup, that Iran will play in Group B, with the United States, England and Wales.
In addition to Azmoun, several other members of the selection (Mehdi Taremi, Vahid Amiri or even Karim Ansarifard) also showed their support for the demonstrators, by changing their profile picture to a black background, or by posting messages such as: “the hair of our daughters is covered with a shroud“.