Iran has arrested a prominent former member of its national football team for criticizing the government as authorities grapple with nationwide protests.
Key points:
- Iranian news agencies reported that Voria Ghafouri was arrested for ‘making propaganda’ against the government
- Ghafouri recently called for an end to the violent crackdown on protests in Iran’s Western Kurdistan region.
- The news of his arrest came ahead of the World Cup match between Iran and Wales on Friday.
The semi-official Fars and Tasnim news agencies reported that Voria Ghafouri was arrested for «insulting the national football team and making propaganda against the government».
Ghafouri, who was not selected to go to the World Cup, has been an outspoken criticism of Iranian officials throughout his career.
He has objected to a long-standing ban on female spectators at men’s football matches and Iran’s confrontational foreign policy that has paralyzed Western sanctions.
More recently, Ghafouri expressed his sympathy for the family of a 22-year-old woman whose death in the custody of the Iranian morality police had sparked recent protests.
He also called for an end to the violent crackdown on protests in Iran’s Western Kurdistan region in recent days.
The news of his arrest came ahead of the World Cup match between Iran and Wales on Friday.
In Iran’s opening match – a 6-2 defeat to England – members of the Iranian national team refused to sing their national anthem, and some fans expressed support for the protests.
Protests flared up with the death of Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the morality police in the capital Tehran, on September 16.
They quickly turned into nationwide demonstrations calling for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic.
The western Kurdish region of the country, where both Amini and Ghafouri came from, has been the epicenter of the protests. Shops in the area were closed on Thursday following calls for a general strike.
Iranian officials did not say whether Ghafouri’s activism was a factor in not selecting him for the national team.
He plays for Khuzestan Foolad in the southwestern city of Ahvaz.
The club’s president, Hamidreza Garshasbi, resigned later on Thursday, without going into details, the semi-official ILNA news agency reported.
Meanwhile, the protests show no signs of waning and mark one of the biggest challenges against Iran’s ruling clergy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that brought them to power.
Human rights groups say security forces threw real ammunition and used bird shots at protesters, as well as beat and arrested them, and much of the violence was videotaped.
UN Human Rights Council condemns crackdown on Iran protests
According to Human Rights Activists in Iran, who watched the protests, at least 442 protesters have been killed and more than 18,000 detained since the riots began.
On Thursday, the UN Human Rights Council voted to create an independent, fact-finding mission to condemn the repression and investigate alleged abuses, particularly against women and children.
Authorities, without providing any evidence, blamed the rebellion on hostile foreign forces and said separatists and other armed groups attacked security forces.
Human Rights Activists in Iran said at least 57 security personnel were killed, while state media reported a higher figure.
Protesters say they are tired of decades of social and political oppression, including a strict dress code imposed on women.
Young women played a leading role in the protests by removing the mandatory Islamic headscarf to express their rejection of religious rules.
Some Iranians are actively rooting for their team at the World Cup, associating them with managers they see as violent and corrupt.
Others insist that the national team represents the people of the country, with players speaking on social media in solidarity with the protests.
Star forward Sardar Azmoun, who voiced the protests on the internet, was on the bench in the opening match.
In addition to Ghafouri, two former football stars were also arrested for supporting the protests.
Other Iranian athletes were also drawn to the fight.
Iranian mountaineer Elnaz Rekabi competed in an international competition held in South Korea in October without wearing a mandatory hijab.
Upon his return to Iran, he was greeted like a hero by protesters, even though he said the move was «unintentional» in an interview that may have been given to state media under duress.
Earlier this month, the Iranian football federation threatened to punish players on its beach soccer team that beat Brazil in an international competition in Dubai.
One of the players celebrated by pretending to be a female protester who cut her hair after scoring a goal.
PA
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