Iran arrests international football player over government criticism ahead of Wales match

Voria Ghafouri, a former member of the Iran national football team, has been arrested for criticising the government, according to reports from state-linked media.

The reports of his arrest came ahead of Friday’s World Cup match between Iran and Wales.

The semi-official Fars and Tasnim news agencies reported on Thursday that he was arrested for insulting the national team, who are currently playing in the World Cup, and criticising the government.

Ghafouri, who was not chosen to go to the World Cup, has been an outspoken critic of Iranian authorities and policies throughout his career.

Iran has been convulsed by anti-government protests for more than two months, the biggest challenge to its Islamic theocracy in more than a decade.

At Iran’s opening match against England, the members of the Iranian team declined to sing along to the national anthem and some fans protested during the match.

The protests were ignited by the death of a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman in the custody of the country’s morality police in September.

They rapidly escalated into nationwide demonstrations calling for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic.

The western Kurdish region of the country has seen particularly intense protests and a deadly crackdown by security forces.

Ghafouri, who is also a member of Iran’s Kurdish minority, has criticised government policies in the past. Officials have not said whether that was a factor in not choosing him for the national team.