Top Iranian footballer arrested ahead of Wales match for ‘spreading propaganda’
by Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor from World news | The Guardian on (#6668Y)
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.
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