Sharafi has one brother and one sister. He began his football career at Shahin and then joined the Taj. In 1964 he moved to PAS Tehran and was a teammate of Mohammad Ranjbar, Hassan Habibi and Mahmoud Yavari. Between 1967 and 1973 he was a member of the national team and won the 1968 and 1972 AFC Asian Cups. He played one match at the 1970 Asian Games and 1972 Summer Olympics each and scored one goal in 1970.