Voria Ghafouri, 31, a right back for Tehran football team Esteghlal, appeared to criticise hardline foreign policy in an Instagram post and interview last week. Voria Ghafouri is a footballer who plays for the Persian Gulf Pro League club Esteghlal, for which he is captain, and the national team. He has played much of his career as a right-back and also played as a right winger occasionally.
Voria Ghafouri – already a star defender for Esteghlal FC – has become a hero in football for speaking out about an economic crisis that has led to soaring food prices. In a rare injection of politics into sport, fans interrupted a match on Wednesday to chant support for his defiant statement on Instagram that “it’s the ordinary people who are under pressure”.
