The arrest of one of the most important figures in Iranian football of the last decades came in connection with the protests over the election fraud in Iran.
Farahani, known for his outstanding work in Iran's football as one of the few IFF presidents with farsightedness, is just one of many public figures alligned to more liberal political forces, arrested since the beginning of the protests.
Farahani served as President of the IFF from 1999-2003 and again helmed the Federation as chairman of the transitionary board, which helped to avoid a suspension of the IFF by FIFA after government interference, from 2006-2008.
Currently Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government has the IFF in tight grip ever since Iranian vice-president and Physical Education organization chief Mohammad Aliabadi illegitimately fired Farahani's successor Mohammad Dakan from his post as IFF president after the 2006 World Cup and assigning puppet Qumars Hashemi instead.
Under pressure of the FIFA Hashemi had to be removed, but Aliabadi's influence on the surely not independent current president Ali Kafashian is obviously strong.