PARIS.- The former goalkeeper of the Iranian national football team, Mohammad Rashid Mazaherihas been imprisoned in his country after publishing a message very critical of the then supreme leader earlier this year Ali Khameneihis wife publicly denounced.
The Mizan news agency of the Iranian judiciary confirmed that Mazaheri is under arrest and noted that he had been detained after attempting to illegally cross the border to leave the country.
Mazaheri, three-time international with Iran At the senior level, he was part of the squad called for the Russia World Cup 2018but his career with the national team was almost completely in the shadow of the man who for years was the team’s untouchable starting goalkeeper, Alireza Beiranvand.
In February, after the mass protests in January and before the start of the war USA and Israel against Iranpublished a message on Instagram in which he described the elderly supreme leader Ali Khamenei “dark and passing chapter” in the history of his country.
Ali Khamenei was killed in an airstrike by the US-Israel operation on the first day of the war, February 28.
According to the information website IranWire, which is based outside the Persian country, Mazaheri’s house was searched on February 25.
The footballer’s wife, Maryam Abdollahiwrote on Instagram Tuesday that her husband was now in prison “in very harsh isolation” in Urmia, northwest Iran.
“Rashid has always stood up for what he believed was right. Now he is paying the price for that bravery with solitary confinement,” he explained.
According to the Mizan agency this Wednesday, Mazaheri was arrested “after trying to leave the country illegally through Iran’s western border, changing his appearance and bribing border agents.”
The world of football in Iran has been under scrutiny in recent months, on the eve of the Men’s World Cup, where its first matches in the group stage are scheduled in the United States.
Karimi case
This same month, Iranian authorities announced the seizure of assets of the former team captain Ali Karimiwho is exiled and is a staunch detractor of Islamic Republic.
Voria Ghafourianother former footballer for the Iran national team, was arrested during the 2022 anti-government protests, during the Qatar World Cup of that year. A member of the Kurdish-Iranian minority, he had denounced the harshness of the repression against the protesters.
