The global soccer players’ union, FIFPRO, said it is “shocked and sickened” by reports that Iranian soccer player Amir Nasr-Azadani faces the possibility of execution “after campaigning for women’s rights and basic freedom in his country.”

“We stand in solidarity with Amir and call for the immediate removal of his punishment,” FIFPRO said in a statement posted on Twitter on Monday.

Nasr-Azadani has been accused of being a member of an “armed group” that was involved in the death of three security officers during protests in the city of Esfahan in central Iran, said the city’s chief justice Asadullah Jafari, according to state news agency IRNA on Sunday.

In the report, Jafari said Nasr-Azadani had been charged with rioting against authorities. He has been in custody since November 27, but no sentence has been issued yet for the accused, the report added.