[custom_adv] ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Authorities in Iran have summoned a Kurdish footballer to answer for comments he recently made criticizing the country’s foreign policy. Ghafouri later refused to retract his statement in an interview with local media and said he had no reason to be afraid. [custom_adv] An ethnic Kurd who is a native of the city of Sanandaj, near the Iraqi border, Ghafouri is signed to one of the football-mad country’s top teams and has also played for the national team in international competitions. [custom_adv] Authorities must play a delicate balancing act. Putting too much pressure on him could backfire. Fans have already rallied around Ghafouri on social media, launching hashtags in his support on Twitter and Instagram. [custom_adv] But allowing Ghafouri to walk away unscathed by the controversy also carries risks, by opening a floodgate of domestic criticism at a time when the nation is already under threat by reinvigorated US sanctions.
