Thousands of people protest for women’s rights after the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody in Iran. Even a Bundesliga professional no longer wants to remain silent: Sardar Azmoun positions himself clearly. The Bayer Leverkusen striker would also accept being kicked out of the national team.
Despite the impact on his international career, Bayer Leverkusen’s Iranian national soccer player Sardar Azmoun has taken on the rulers in his home country because of the disregard for women’s rights in the Gulf state. Through an Instagram post on Sunday that became known at the beginning of the week, the striker expressed his solidarity with the protests of several thousand people against the Islamic system of rule and the systematic discrimination against women after the death of Mahsa Amini in Iranian police custody, which caused a sensation around the world.
“Ashamed of you all, how carelessly people are murdered. Long live Iranian women,” wrote Azmoun in his now deleted post two days after Iran’s 1-0 international victory in Austria against Uruguay: “Because of the rules of the national team we weren’t allowed to say anything , but I can’t stand the silence anymore. The ultimate punishment would be for them to kick me off the team, which would be a small sacrifice compared to every single strand of hair on an Iranian woman.”
The consequences of his support for the many demonstrators in the Iranian metropolis of Tehran and numerous other cities in the country are actually still unclear. Whether the attacker, revered as a superstar in his country of birth, will still be part of the squad in the next World Cup test in Austria against Senegal on Tuesday or whether he has to worry about his participation in the upcoming World Cup tournament in Qatar (November 20th to December 18th) is currently being revealed questionable.
On the other hand, three days after his first criticism of the mullahs’ regime because of Amini’s death (“If they’re Muslims, may God make me an unbeliever”), Azmoun was at least allowed to play against Uruguay. He has been playing for Leverkusen in the Bundesliga since the end of January.
The club backed the 62-time international. Sports manager Simon Rolfes said: “I was in contact with Sardar. Against the background of the current events in his home country, he wanted to support Iranian women and women in general,” said the ex-professional in the “Rheinische Post”: “He shows a lot of solidarity with the female population of Iran. And of course we support Sardar’s personal commitment because he is committed to the preservation and strengthening of democratically legitimized basic values.”
