Thousands killed in recent unrest, and prominent figures in Iranian sport are urging international action.
Former Iran and Bayern Munich star Ali Karimi has signed an open letter to FIFA President Gianni Infantino demanding a public condemnation of the “mass killing of civilians in Iran, including members of the football community.” Karimi and 20 other signatories — including former internationals, a coach, a referee and sports journalists — also call on FIFA to recognize that the Iranian Football Association has breached FIFA statutes and to suspend the FA from all FIFA competitions immediately, notably the 2026 World Cup.
The letter says that among the thousands killed this month were “a significant number of members of the football community.” FIFA has not yet commented. The letter concludes: “Silence in the face of these crimes amounts to abandoning the very principles that global football claims to defend.”
Karimi, who has lived in the United States since 2023, spoke at a Los Angeles protest in January calling for political change. He has long spoken about sport’s role in society; three years ago, in a video message at an event at the German Football Museum organized by the German FA and Amnesty International, he said: “Athletes should always be on the right side of history.”
Mass protests began in Iran in late December amid economic distress and have spread nationwide, with demonstrators demanding a change of government. Authorities have used force to try to suppress dissent, and official casualty figures are disputed.
Former Iranian canoeist and swimmer Reyhaneh Amro, who moved to Germany more than a decade ago, has become increasingly vocal from abroad. She told DW she left Iran because she felt unable to express herself freely: “Generally speaking, when you’re there, you always have to keep quiet, you have no human rights, you just have to work in a way that satisfies them, then you’re safe, and if not, then you’ll either be excluded from the national team or have to continue working on your career.”
Amro said athletes are targeted because they wield “enormous social influence,” creating fear that they could rise up against the regime. Despite threats, cyberattacks and personal danger, she continues to speak out to raise awareness and support people in Iran: “We are all in danger. But if we remain silent and, as I said, don’t raise our voices, nothing will happen,” she said. “And right now, they have already killed so many young people. How can you see that and remain silent? No, let’s keep fighting. I’m not afraid at all.”
Amro and Karimi see their actions as part of a broader struggle: “It’s about the whole of Iran, it’s about the people who live there. And we are only a small part of that,” she said. “We always need your help and your voice from Europe, America and everywhere else so that the regime is excluded from the world.”
Alima Hotakie conducted the interview with Reyhaneh Amro. Edited by Chuck Penfold.
Ali Karimi is one of the most famous Iranian footballers and used to play for Bayern Munich. Image: MIS/IMAGO