Who is football player Voria Ghafouri, arrested for insulting Iran?

Iranian footballer Voria Ghafouri, who was arrested in Iran earlier this week, is said to have been released, Iran state media reported. The prominent blogger Hossein Ronaghi is also released after two months of imprisonment. They were arrested for supporting anti-hijab protests in Iran.

Ghafouri, a 35-year-old footballer from Iran's Kurdistan, was arrested during a training session on Thursday. He was accused of putting the reputation of Iran's national team at stake and doing propaganda against the country's regime.

Ghafour's arrest came a day before Iran's second match in the Qatar World Cup. In the first match played against England, the Iranian team attracted everyone's attention by not singing the national anthem. Its purpose was to support the Protest going on in Iran for the last 2 months.

Protests in Iran began after the death of 22-year-old student Mahasa Amini, who was arrested for not wearing a headscarf as required by the law. The government is making every possible effort to suppress these protests.

According to Iranian state media, Ghafouri also supported these protests. Because of this, he was accused of insulting the national team and doing propaganda against the country's government.

According to the state media, Ghafouri has been released only after accepting some conditions.

Who is Iranian footballer Voria Ghafouri?

Voria Ghafouri has been a member of the Iranian National Football Team and he is a very famous football player in Iran. He has also been the captain of the Tehran club Esteghlal.

Ghafouri has been speaking out against the current government on social media, he has also been writing against the atrocities being perpetrated on the Kurdish people.

Recently, he supported the ongoing Protest regarding hijab due to which he was arrested. Even before this, once Ghafouri was arrested for criticizing Foreign Minister Javed Zarif.

It is being told that Ghafouri was arrested to warn the national team not to insult the government by protesting.

Recently, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had also told Ghafouri in gestures that some people are biting the hands that feed them.

In 2019, Sahar Khodayari, a woman self-immolated after being sentenced to prison for attempting to watch an Esteghlal match at Azadi Stadium. After another such incident Ghafouri wrote on Instagram:

As a soccer player, I've indeed become humiliated when I play in an era when our mothers and sisters are prohibited from entering stadiums."

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