Iran seizes assets of football legend Ali Karimi in latest clampdown on regime’s opponents

Iranian authorities have seized property belonging to former football star Ali Karimi in Alborz province, the latest in a wave of asset confiscations targeting prominent critics of the Islamic Republic.

Investigators identified two commercial spaces and four apartments registered in the name of Havash Karimi, Ali Karimi's son, using what the judiciary described as legal and intelligence checks, according to Mizan, the judicial branch's media outlet.

A court ordered the properties transferred "in favour of the public". Hamshahri Online, the Tehran municipality's official outlet, also reported the seizures.

The confiscations are part of a broader campaign targeting opponents of the regime.

Others recently affected include former Kayhan editor-in-chief Mehdi Nasiri, sports presenter Mazdak Mirzaei, actresses Niki Karimi and Mahnaz Afshar, and journalists working for opposition Persian-language outlets abroad.

Authorities have also named social media influencers and bloggers based outside Iran as subject to seizures. Officials say the campaign targets cooperation with hostile states and what they call "subversive networks" and have indicated asset seizures will continue.

State media have accompanied the legal campaign with public attacks on critics. An Iranian state television programme broadcast live remarks insulting another football star and former national team captain Ali Daei earlier this week, drawing widespread attention.

'Wizard of Asia'

This is not the first time Karimi's assets have been targeted. After he expressed support for the Women, Life, Freedom movement in 2022, authorities temporarily sealed his residence.

Pressure intensified after he joined the Charter of Solidarity for the Organisation of Freedom in Iran, a coalition led by Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran's last shah.

Born in Karaj in 1978, Karimi is widely regarded as the best Iranian footballer of all time.

Known to fans as the "Wizard of Asia" and "Asian Maradona," he played in the UAE before joining Schalke 04 and Bayern Munich, where he competed in the UEFA Champions League.

The Asian Football Confederation named Karimi one of the defining figures of Asian football history in 2017.

FIFA selected him as one of the two greatest players in Iran's football history at the 2018 World Cup draw ceremony — the other one being Daei, who incidentally also played for Bayern Munich.

A poll on the television programme Navad 90 saw Iranians recognise Karimi as one of the country's most popular footballers of the past two decades, with 52.5% of the vote.

Karimi has previously responded to threats against his property by saying, "My assets are sacrificed for the Iranian people." He has not yet publicly commented on the latest seizures.