Warning?: Iran footballer arrested for ‘spreading propaganda against the state’

This news I have read in Guardian is a bit disturbing, especially after Iran football team at Qatar World Cup is standing up to powers that be.

Iranian security forces on Thursday arrested one of the country’s most famous footballers, accusing him of spreading propaganda against the Islamic republic and seeking to undermine the national World Cup team.

Voria Ghafouri, a former member of the national football team and once a captain of the Tehran club Esteghlal, has been outspoken in his defence of Iranian Kurds, telling the government on social media to stop killing Kurdish people. He has previously been detained for criticising the former Iranian foreign minister Javad Zari. Iran are due to play Wales on Friday. The Iranian team has already been embroiled in controversy after failing to sing the national anthem before its game against England, and Ghafouri’s arrest is likely to be seen as a warning to the players not to repeat their protests.

He was detained after a training session with his club, Foolad Khuzestan, on charges of having “tarnished the reputation of the national team and spread propaganda against the state”, the Fars new agency 

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/24/iranian-footballer-voria-ghafouri-arrested-ahead-of-wales-match-world-cup

https://apnews.com/article/iran-world-cup-sports-soccer-international-1bcb8b70e5ca832cf90acb05848627b7/gallery/45a5a53f6e104b5a824df2ff2c3d5736