Iran women’s football team feted in Tehran after asylum battle

PARIS – Iranian authorities gave the national women’s football team a heroine’s welcome on March 19 after their return to the Islamic republic from Australia, where some had made and then withdrawn asylum claims amid accusations Iran had pressured their families.

Six players and one backroom staff member who travelled to Australia for the Women’s Asian Cup sought asylum earlier in March, after they sparked criticism from hardliners in Iran for failing to sing the national anthem before their first match.

Five of them later changed their minds and returned home along with the rest of the team, with their fate sparking international concern amid the war against Israel and the United States.

Activists have accused Iranian authorities of pressuring the women’s families, including summoning their parents for interrogations. Tehran has alleged that Australia sought to force them to defect.

Several thousand people, many holding Iranian flags, turned out for the welcome ceremony in the evening of March 19 in Valiasr Square in central Tehran, where other pro-government rallies have taken place in recent weeks, state TV images showed.

“My Choice. My Homeland,” read a slogan on a giant billboard on the square that showed the players in their national kit and mandatory hijabs saluting the Iranian flag.

Flanked by the team members, Iranian football federation president Mehdi Taj said on the stage that “what is certain is that these athletes are loyal to the homeland, flag, leader and revolution”.

Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani, one of the most high-profile women in Iranian politics, told the team members: “All Iranians were waiting for you; welcome to Iran.”

As onlookers cheered the players, giant AI-generated images of the women were projected on a screen showing them pledging loyalty to the Iranian flag against a background of Iranian national landmarks.

Two squad members have remained in Australia, but the rest of the team, including the five other women who initially applied for asylum, arrived back in Iran on March 18 after a journey home via Malaysia, Oman and Turkey.

Activists have accused Iranian authorities of pressuring these five women into changing their minds by intelligence agents putting pressure on their families at home.

“The regime in Iran started threatening their families and basically took their families hostage. Because of that, they were forced to withdraw their asylum and go back to Iran,” Shiva Amini, a former Iranian futsal international who now lives in exile and campaigns for women’s rights, wrote on social media.

But Farideh Shojaei, an Iranian football official who travelled to Australia, said the players had been offered “houses, cars, money, promises of contracts with professional clubs, as well as humanitarian visas”.

“Fortunately, the members of our team valued their national identity above all else and turned these offers down,” she told Iranian media.

Meanwhile, Sardar Azmoun, who is second in Iran’s all-time scoring charts, has been expelled from the national team for perceived disloyalty to the government, Iranian media has reported, making it unlikely he will play any part at the 2026 World Cup.

Iran’s participation at the World Cup is under a cloud because of the ongoing conflict with the US, who are co-hosting the June 11-July 19 tournament with Mexico and Canada.

If Team Melli do turn up for their opening-round matches, they will undoubtedly be weakened by the absence of Azmoun, who has scored 57 goals in 91 internationals.

Azmoun, who plays his club football in the United Arab Emirates for Shabab Al-Ahli, upset the Iranian authorities this week by posting a picture on Instagram of a meeting with Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Iran has launched rocket and drone attacks on the UAE following air strikes by the US and Israel.

A report on the Fars News Agency cited “an informed source within the national team” as saying Azmoun had been expelled from the squad.

Azmoun later removed the pictures but was still lambasted on state TV on March 19, with football pundit Mohammad Misaghi saying the striker’s actions had been an act of disloyalty. “It’s unfortunate that you don’t have enough sense to understand what kind of behaviour is appropriate at a given time,” Misaghi said.

AFP, REUTERS