WASHINGTON/SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia agreed on Tuesday to give five Iranian women’s football team members visas to stay in the country as they seek asylum amid fears of persecution in their home country.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump said he had spoken to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese about the Iranian women’s football team in Australia following reports that the players had requested asylum.
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Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told reporters the remaining players were currently staying in a Gold Coast hotel, adding that he had also offered other team members the chance to stay in Australia.
“Australians are moved by the plight of these brave women,” Albanese told a news conference in Canberra on Tuesday.
“They are safe here and they should feel at home here.”
The Iranian women’s football team is competing in the Asian Cup in Australia.
Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency said the five players secretly left the team’s hotel with the help of Australian police, and media reports said they were seeking assistance from the Australian government after “breaking free.”
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Trump calls Australian Prime Minister
Trump, who initially posted on social media that Australia “made a terrible humanitarian mistake” by allowing the team to be sent home, said in a later post that he had spoken to Albanese and that the Australian leader had “done a very good job handling this rather delicate situation.”
Trump said five members of the Iranian team “have been taken care of and the rest are on their way.”
“However, some people feel they have to go back because they fear for their family’s safety, including the threats their family members will face if they don’t come back,” he said.
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Trump said in an earlier post that members of the team “could be killed” if forced to return to Iran. “If you don’t, America will accept them,” he added.
Albanese said Trump called him just before 2 a.m. (1500 GMT on Monday).
“I conveyed to him the actions we have taken over the past 48 hours, that five people in the team have requested assistance and have received it and have been found safe,” Albanez said.
As Iran began its campaign in the Asia Cup hosted by Australia, the United States and Israel launched air strikes on Iran that killed the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They were eliminated after losing 2-0 to the Philippines on Sunday.
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FIFPRO expresses concern
Global players’ union FIFPRO said on Monday there were serious concerns about the welfare of the Iranian team who were labeled “wartime traitors” for refusing to sing the national anthem before matches.
Ahead of the first match against South Korea, the players decided to remain silent during Iran’s national anthem, with commentators on the Islamic Republic’s radio branding it “the pinnacle of humiliation”.
Iranian media quoted Farideh Shojaei, vice president of women’s affairs of the Iranian Football Association, as saying that the team left the hotel through the back door under the guidance of police.
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“We have contacted the embassy, the football association, the foreign ministry and wherever possible to see what happens,” she said. “We’ve even spoken to the families of these five players.”
Iranian media named the players Zahra Sarbali, Mona Hamoudi, Zahra Ghanbari, Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramazani-Zadeh.
The rest of the team is still in Australia, the report said, citing Shojaei as saying the team had planned to return to Iran via Dubai, but the UAE would not allow them to do so.
It is said that the team is currently expected to return via Malaysia and Türkiye.
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The Iranian team sang the national anthem and saluted before their second match against Australia, sparking concerns from human rights activists who feared the women were being coerced by government jailers.
Australia has granted emergency humanitarian visas to more than 20 members of the Afghan women’s cricket team after the Taliban returned to power in 2021 and banned women’s sports.
(Reporting by Katharine Jackson, Renju Jose and Praveen Menon; Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in Washington and Parisa Hafezi in Dubai; Writing by Michelle Nichols and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Bill Berkrot, Ed Osmond, Ken Ferris and Stephen Coates)
