One member of the Iranian women’s football team has decided to leave Australia, taking the number seeking asylum to six, amid fears they could be in danger after they did not sing Iran’s national anthem before a game.
They were in Australia for the Asian Cup when the Iran war began just over a week ago.
Two more women – a footballer and a member of staff – had decided to join five players who were granted humanitarian visas a day earlier and remain in Australia.
But one woman decided on Wednesday to return to Iran, taking the number seeking asylum in Australia from seven to six.
The change of heart highlights the difficult decision the footballers faced off the back of the Asian Cup competition in Queensland.
Australia’s home affairs minister Tony Burke told reporters that, after making security assessments, not everyone who applied for a visa was granted one.
“There is a reason why some people were not made a direct offer [to stay]. There were some people leaving Australia who I am glad are no longer in Australia,” he said, without giving further details.
The rest of the team departed from Sydney late on Tuesday to return to Iran.
The six team members remaining in Australia have received humanitarian visas for 12 months and can then begin the process to permanent residency.
Speaking after five people originally applied for visas, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “Australians have been moved by the plight of these brave women. They are safe here and they should feel at home here.”
The Australian government had been under pressure to protect the women after they were knocked out of the tournament.
The players were reportedly criticised on Iranian TV, with a commentator saying they had committed the “pinnacle of dishonour” for staying silent during the national anthem before their match on 2 March – two days after the US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran.
“Traitors during wartime must be dealt with more severely,” presenter Mohammad Reza Shahbazi said, according to the Reuters news agency.
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Some believed the team’s silence was an act of resistance, while others saw it as a show of mourning following the initial US-Israel attacks on their country.
The team has not made any specific comment on their stance.
They sang and saluted ahead of defeats to Australia on Thursday and the Philippines on Sunday, but there were concerns they had been ordered to do so.
The team failed to get past the group stage and players’ union FIFPRO said it was “really concerned” about their welfare and had been unable to contact them.
Dozens of people chanted “let them go” and “save our girls” as the team’s bus left the stadium on the Gold Coast after Sunday’s match.
Supporters said they could see at least three players making the international hand signal for help, according to CNN.
Before the rest of the squad left the country, some Iranian Australians held a protest at the team’s hotel and at the airport, seeking to prevent the women from leaving the country, citing fears for their safety in Iran.
Mr Trump posted on Truth Social about how some players felt they had to return “because they are worried about the safety of their families, including threats to those family members if they don’t return”.
‘Ongoing threat’
Exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi, who lives in the US, said he had been told that Fatemeh Pasandideh, Zahra Ghanbari, Zahra Sarbali, Atefeh Ramazanzadeh and Mona Hamoudi were now in a “safe location”.
He earlier said the team faced an “ongoing threat” after their “brave act” not to sing the national anthem.
“As a result of their brave act of civil disobedience in refusing to sing the current regime’s national anthem, they face dire consequences should they return to Iran,” he posted on social media.
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The Australian Iranian Council had also urged the government to protect the players.
It launched an online petition asking authorities to “ensure that no member of Iran’s women’s national football team is to depart Australia while credible fears for their safety remain”.
