Former Bayern Munich soccer player is persecuted in Iran for supporting social protests after the death of a young woman in police custody

Photo: Saeed Khan / AFP / Getty Images

He was the best Asian player in 2007 and played in the middle of the Bayern Munich camp in Germany. The Iranian ex-soccer player Ali Karimi is under the scrutiny of his country’s justice for publicly supporting the social demonstrations in rejection of the death of Mahsa Amini

, a young woman aged 26 who was detained for wearing the veil incorrectly and that she died in strange circumstances in the custody of the “Moral Police”.

According to what was reported by the Mehr news agency, the Iranian justice considers Karimi as “one of the main leaders of the recent riots in the country. He is prosecuted for having carried the voice of the enemy and encouraged the protests”.

After the death of Amini, which sparked a series of riots in various parts of Iran, the former player of 43 years used his social networks to publicly support the demonstrations. “What are you defending, soldier? Looting, embezzlement and rent seeking? The humiliation of the homeland and global isolation? The poverty, prostitution and hunger of the compatriots?”, he wrote on Twitter.

This Thursday Karimi continued to publish opinions about the case and shared a photo of the young woman assassinated with the following message: “My dear, all the people of Iran are ashamed of the way you were killed. May your soul be happy, my daughter.

Chase

Recently, a media outlet called Kayhan accused Karimi of having “directed the riots and” poured oil on the fire of problems. After this publication, a group met in front of the former player’s house in Tehran, according to the Mehr agency.

Karimi currently lives in the United Arab Emirates and was the third player with the most titles and the fifth top scorer of the Iranian national team. After winning the award for best Asian player in 2004, signed for Bayern Munich of the German Bundesliga the following year and stayed until the season 2007.

It is not the first time that the former player creates controversy by publicly speaking about a social conflict. In 2009 along with several Iranian soccer players, he wore a green bracelet during the World Cup qualifiers in South Africa 2010 to show his support for a presidential candidate.

In one of his last clubs he was fired for not observing the Muslim fast and having insulted those responsible for the soccer federation. Although after paying a fine of more than $3, dollars was able to play again.

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