CNN
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As Tehran cracks down on anti-government protesters, an Iranian-Kurdish footballer has been arrested on charges of “inciting the regime,” according to state news agency Tasim.
Voria Ghafouri, who plays as a defender for the Khuzestan Foolad football team, was also arrested on charges of “disgraceful and insulting conduct against the Iranian national football team”.
“Ghafouri has had some harsh reactions to support the recent mob and agitate them,” the state-run Fars News Agency reported.
Iran International, a London-based opposition news outlet, said the star footballer had accused the government of “handling protests triggered by a sudden rise in prices” in May. said he was sacked in June from his former team, Esteghlal FC.
Iranian officials have criticized Ghafouri in connection with protests earlier this year in the wake of soaring food prices after the government cut state subsidies and in some cases jumped costs by 300%.
Iran has since seen nationwide dissent in the wake of the death in September of Martha Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman detained by the country’s morality police for not wearing the hijab properly. I am involved in a demonstration.
The demonstrations have highlighted longstanding grievances among the Kurdish minority group in the country. Security forces have targeted them in their brutal campaign to crack down on dissent in Iran.
Ghafouri hails from Sanandaj, Iran’s second-largest Kurdish city, according to the Norway-based Hengo Human Rights Organization.
Ghafouri joins many Iranian athletes who have spoken out in support of the nationwide riots.
Iran’s former national team goalkeeper Parviz Boromand was arrested last week for vandalizing public property in Tehran during protests on November 15, according to Tasnim.
Boromand, 47, played for Persepolis FC and Esteghlal FC before retiring in 2007 to focus on social and humanitarian work. He was outspoken about supporting Iranian protesters on his social media channels before his arrest.
Former Iranian footballer Ali Karimi has posted support for Ghafouri and Boromand after his arrest. “For the honorable Ghafouri,” Karimi tweeted on Thursday, along with a photo of Ghafouri in a Kurdish costume.
Karimi, who now lives outside Iran, has come under heavy scrutiny from the Iranian government for expressing support for protesters since late September.
In November, Archer Parmida Ghasemi took off her hijab at an awards ceremony in Tehran to show support for anti-government protests. Iranian climber Ernaz Rekhabi said he had competed in South Korea the previous month without wearing the compulsory hijab but later accidentally dropped out. is.
