Iran releases football players ahead of World Cup match against the U.S.

The two footballers were arrested for participating in what has been one of the biggest protests against Iran's ruling clerics since the 1979 Islamic Revolution

Iranian authorities said Tuesday that two former members of the national soccer team arrested this month in connection with nationwide protests have been released on bail.

The announcement came hours before Iran was set to play the U.S. at the World Cup in a match that authorities are heavily promoting as they grapple with nationwide protests that are well into their third month.

Parviz Boroumand, a retired goalkeeper, was arrested nearly two weeks ago on charges of participating in protests in the capital, Tehran, and was accused of damaging property. Voria Ghafouri was arrested last week for “insulting the national soccer team and propagandizing against the government," according to state-linked media.

The judiciary announced their release Tuesday without elaborating.

Ghafouri, who is still playing for a local club but was not chosen to go to the World Cup, has been an outspoken critic of Iranian authorities throughout his career. He objected to a longstanding ban on women spectators at men's soccer matches as well as Iran's confrontational foreign policy, which has led to crippling Western sanctions.

More recently, he expressed sympathy for the family of a 22-year-old woman whose death while in the custody of Iran's morality police ignited the latest protests. He also called for an end to a violent crackdown on protests in Iran's western Kurdistan region.

Iranian officials have not said whether Ghafouri's activism was a factor in not choosing him for the national team.