Iran executed Ali-Sina Mostafavi after the supreme court upheld his death sentence at the end of September. Mostafavi was arrested in April for allegedly opening fire on civilians in Kerman's Azadi Square on 24 March.
Authorities accused the athlete of being an “armed agent of the American-Zionist enemy”. Siavash Jamshidi Kheirabadi was executed at the start of October, while Gholamreza Khani Shakarab was hanged in May.
Navid Afkari Sangari was executed in September 2020, and Maryam Siri received a death sentence this year. Human Rights for Sport reported that six athletes were executed in cases linked to political charges or the January protests.
During the January protests, 217 Iranian athletes were killed by direct gunfire and more than 100 others were detained. Ehsan Hosseinpour was arrested during the January protests, while Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani was arrested in 2020.
The request for a retrial for Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani was rejected last year. Dr Zohreh Abdollahkhani of Human Rights for Sport said, "The Iranian sporting community is under enormous pressure.. For one of those sentenced to death, we managed to raise attention and awareness through other organisations and they halted his execution. But it was only temporary and I’m very concerned about all of them."
Dr Abdollahkhani added, "He was a role model and very famous in the whole community. What happened to him was also a warning to the whole population: look what we can do to someone like this". Four members of the European parliament wrote to Fifa before the World Cup regarding the situation of Iranian athletes.
A spokesperson for football’s governing body said, "Fifa is aware of the concerns raised regarding the situation of Iranian athletes and thanks all stakeholders for their continued collaboration and dedication to raising awareness of these critical matters". The IOC stated, "Within our remit, we work tirelessly with all stakeholders of the Olympic movement, including national Olympic committees and international federations, to support the creation of a safe sporting environment for all athletes. We will continue to work with our Olympic stakeholders to support all athletes globally through sports diplomacy, and we remain in touch with the Olympic community of Iran."
