At least three Iranian footballers have been killed during protests that began December 28, prompting Iran’s former national team captain to criticise FIFA for its silence over the deaths of athletes.
Mojtaba Torshiz, a former player for Tractor Tabriz, and his wife were killed during protests Thursday in Qaemshahr, Mazandaran province, northern Iran, according to local sources.
Unofficial reports said the couple were shot by security forces. Iranian authorities have provided no explanation for the incident.
The couple had two children. Some sources said Torshiz’s wife, Arezoo Madani, is still alive despite serious injuries.
Torshiz had previously played for Nassaji Mazandaran, Tractor Tabriz, Fajr Sepasi Shiraz and Mes Kerman.
Masoud Shojaei, former captain of Iran’s national football team, criticised FIFA for its silence over the killing of Iranian athletes during protests.
In an Instagram post, he addressed the world football governing body and asked when it would finally respond, referring to the killing of three footballers during demonstrations.
Saeid Mahmoudizad Azari, former CEO of Iranian football clubs Zob Ahan, Foolad and Nassaji, reacted to what he described as crimes of the Islamic Republic by posting a story on Instagram.
He described the killing of thousands of people as genocide and wrote: “They labeled protesters as rioters, and then labeled rioters as terrorists, to create a pretext for the massacre of the people of this country.”
Azari added: “Those hands that pulled the trigger, and those minds that gave the orders, should be certain that a severe reckoning lies ahead.”
‘Shot from behind at close range’
Rebin Moradi, a 17-year-old football talent, was killed in Parand near Tehran. His father said forensic authorities told him his son had been shot from behind at close range.
The bullet passed through the teenager’s chest and killed him, according to the father. Moradi wore the number 8 jersey for Saipa’s youth team.
Security forces initially conditioned the release of the 17-year-old’s body on his father agreeing to give an interview to Iran’s state broadcaster and claim his son had been killed by “rioters,” according to reports.
One day later, state television aired an interview with Moradi’s father, also known as Mobin Moradi, who in tears said: “He was shot from close range.”
The Moradi family is originally from Salas-e Babajani in Kermanshah province and moved to Tehran years earlier, according to reports.
Amir Mohammad Kouhkan, a futsal goalkeeper and coach, was killed by direct gunfire during street protests in Fars province.
In his final Instagram post, shared hours before his death, he posted a scene from Martin Scorsese’s film Taxi Driver in which Robert De Niro, playing Travis Bickle, says: “I don’t know. I just wanna go out… I got some bad ideas in my head.”
Human rights organisations have repeatedly warned about the rising number of protesters being killed, including teenagers and athletes, and called for independent, transparent and international investigations into the deaths.
The latest wave of protests in Iran began 28 December, sparked by demonstrations by shopkeepers at Tehran’s Alaeddin shopping complex over a sudden rise in food prices caused by persistent hyperinflation, and quickly spread to other cities.
Following a call by Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, protests were met with violent repression by security forces. Widespread internet shutdowns were imposed as another measure to contain unrest.
According to independent organisations, the protests have resulted in several thousand deaths, raising fears the toll could become one of the highest in Iran’s recent history.
US President Donald Trump, who previously promised direct support for protesters in the event of government violence, said in his latest remarks he had been assured by “reliable sources” that the Iranian regime has stopped the killings and will not carry out executions.