The Men’s Serie A Volleyball League and the Women’s Volleyball League jointly support the appeal sent by the Hon. Mauro Berruto at the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran for the political patronage of Fahimeh Karimi, the mother of three volleyball coaches sentenced to death following the strong protests taking place in the country.
The two Leagues join the appeal of the former coach of the national team, asking that the whole world of Italian volleyball and sport make its voice heard, siding in support of the justice of thousands of women, men and young people unjustly imprisoned and convicted.
“We would like to express great solidarity with the initiative of the Hon. Mauro Berruto – declared the president of the Serie A Volleyball League Massimo Righi – Fahimeh Karimi risks being sentenced to death without evidence of trial for having taken part in a demonstration: certain episodes appear so unacceptable and absurd that they do not even seem possible, and it is it is therefore our moral duty to show closeness to the victims of this type of repression and to provide them with any type of assistance. I also mention the episode of the former freeman of the Iranian national team, Farhad Zarif, for whom an arrest warrant was recently issued, for expressing dissent against the regime in a post on social networks. Our hope is that volleyball, like any sport, can be leveraged in the daily struggle in favor of human rights, and can then turn into concrete help thanks to works of courage like the one we are sharing on this occasion”.
The president of the Women’s Volleyball League Mauro Fabris: “After having supported the petition launched by “La Stampa”, which has collected over 300,000 signatures, already delivered to the Iranian ambassador, and having spread the message of non-violence recorded by the Serie A athletes in all the arenas, the Women’s Volleyball League reiterates the urgency of an action to save the life of Fahimeh Karimi and all the victims of the Iranian regime. For this reason we strongly support the appeal of the Honorable Mauro Berruto, with the hope that the whole world of Italian sport will be able to follow the example of the world of volleyball to reaffirm our absolute opposition to any type of violence. As a League, we will continue to support initiatives in favor of the Iranian people also during the Italian Cup Final Four and throughout the rest of the season, to keep the spotlight on the seriousness of the Iranian regime’s actions and denounce the horrors that continue to perpetrated in the country ”.
