Navid ZanganehNavid Zanganeh, a member of Iran's U23 national freestyle wrestling team who was reportedly detained for 2-3 days during anti-government protests in Iran in mid-November, is now in Canada.
The 23-year-old Zanganeh, who earned a bronze medal in freestyle at the 2018 World U23 Wrestling Championships in Bucharest, Romania at 74 kilograms/163 pounds, has reportedly sought asylum in Canada and will represent that nation in a wrestling tournament, according to a news report at Radio Farda, which reported these developments had been confirmed by the state-run Iran Students News Agency (ISNA) on Thursday, Jan. 2.
Zanganeh has not publicly confirmed that he is seeking asylum in Canada nor that he plans to wrestle for that nation.
In late November, news stories out of Iran reported that the Islamic Republic intelligence agents had detained Zanganeh after he had been shot with a pellet during a public protest event, taken to a hospital, and held 2-3 days before being released, according to one report on Twitter.
Radio Farda also reported that, immediately after his release, "Zanganeh's club, Atrak Khorasan, unilaterally canceled its contract with him and deprived him of competing in the World Cup Club championships."
Radio Farda is a service of the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, designed to provide news to citizens of Iran.
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