^*^ Top Iranian footballer arrested ahead of Wales match for ‘spreading propaganda’

Detention of Voria Ghafouri, former captain of Tehran club Esteghlal, seen as warning to World Cup team

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, 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 Zarif.

Continue reading...