A global professional football federation has said it is sickened by reports a footballer in Iran faces execution for participating in the nationwide protests.
FIFPro, the international federation of professional footballers, said on Tuesday it was “shocked and sickened” by reports professional player Amir Nasr-Azadani, 26, faces execution in Iran “after campaigning for women’s rights and basic freedom in his country”.
The Netherlands-based body said it stands in solidarity with Mr Nasr-Azadani and calls for the death sentence to be immediately repealed.
The footballer, who played in Iran's premier league and for the national youth team, was arrested in November over the death of an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander.
Footage shared by state TV showed the forced confessions of Mr Nasr-Azadani and two others over the murder of the security officer, said IranWire, which reported he had briefly participated in protests and chanted anti-government slogans.
His family told the independent news agency they have been pressured into silence over his arrest and said the man was “nowhere near” the place where the IRGC member was killed.
The death sentence “would become final” if the family spoke to foreign media, it quoted a relative as saying.
The footballer is now charged with moharebeh, or enmity against God, a charge which carries the death sentence.
Two men charged with the same crime have already been executed.
Majidreza Rahnavard was hanged from a crane on Monday, also convicted of moharebeh.
The judiciary said he had killed two security officers — an accusation often levelled at government dissidents without proof.
It came just days after Mohsen Shekari was hanged for allegedly injuring a member of the Basij paramilitary group and blocking off a street in Tehran.
The deaths have drawn widespread condemnation but are unlikely to stop Tehran, which pursued capital punishment for decades and is one of the world's biggest executioners.
Wrestler Navid Afkari was put to death in 2020 after participating in protests in 2018. He was also accused of murdering a security officer and was reported to have confessed under torture.
Many athletes have spoken out against the government since the outbreak of protests three months ago over the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody. Almost 500 people have been killed and 18,000 arrested since they began, rights groups say.
Several women have publicly defied the regime, competing without hijab at international competitions, only to issue apparent forced apologies and be removed from national teams.
Iran's national football team was also praised by protesters for refusing to sing the Iran national anthem at the World Cup in Qatar. It then backtracked on the move amid reports their families had been threatened with torture if players acted against the government.
Iran star Voria Ghafouri, who chose not to play in Qatar, was arrested in November for “insulting the national team and spreading propaganda” in voicing support for the protests.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Countries recognising Palestine
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