Iran named Sardar Azmoun, their star player who has expressed support on several occasions for the demonstrations in Iran, in their final 25-man World Cup squad on Monday.

Azmoun, who plays for German club Bayer Leverkusen, tore a calf muscle in early October and faces a fight to be fit for Iran’s first match of the tournament against England in Qatar on November 21.

The 27-year-old forward has posted several messages of support on social media for the protests in Iran that were sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. Hundreds have died in the unrest.

Click here for full story. 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.