Voria Ghafouri was arrested last week for “insulting the national soccer team and propagandizing against the government,” according to state-linked media. The judiciary announced their release Tuesday without elaborating. Ghafouri, who is still playing for a local club but was not chosen to go to the World Cup, has been an outspoken critic of Iranian authorities throughout his career. He objected to a longstanding ban on women spectators at men’s soccer matches as well as Iran’s confrontational foreign policy, which has led to crippling Western sanctions.
