MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Three other members of an Iranian women’s soccer team who accepted refugee visas to stay in Australia have decided to return to their home country, an Australian government minister said Sunday.
Three of the original seven team members remain in Australia.
“Overnight, three members of the Iranian women’s football team decided to return to Iran along with the rest of the team,” Interior Minister Tony Burke said in a statement.
Burke added: “After telling Australian officials that they had made the decision, the players were given multiple opportunities to talk about their options.”
Last month, the Iranian team arrived in Australia for the Women’s Asian Cup before the war in the Middle East broke out on February 28.
Initially, six of the 26 players and one support staff accepted humanitarian visas to stay in Australia, before the remainder of the Iranian team flew from Sydney to Malaysia on March 9.
Another later changed his mind and left Australia. A government official said the trio left Sydney on Saturday night for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The rest of the team has remained in Kuala Lumpur since leaving Australia.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency said the latest three people to leave Australia were two players and a support staff member. The news outlet said in a statement that the three were “returning to the warm embrace of their family and homeland.”
Another failure of the US-Australia project and Trujmk
Concerns about the team’s safety in Iran were heightened when the players did not sing the Iranian national anthem before the first game.
Iran groups in Australia and US President Donald Trump have urged the Australian government to help the woman.
Iran’s news agency described the return of women to the team as “a shameful failure of the US-Australia project and another failure for Trump”.
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