Iran women’s footballers given asylum after Donald Trump speaks with Australian Prime Minister

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SYDNEY – Australia on March 10 agreed to provide visas to stay in the country to five players from the Iranian women’s football team, after they sought asylum fearing persecution in their home nation.

The announcement came after US President Donald Trump said he had spoken to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese about the Iran team, following reports that the players had requested asylum.

Australian Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke told a news conference that he had also offered the other team members the chance to stay in Australia.

“I was able to tell five members of the Iranian women’s football team that they are welcome to stay in Australia, that they are safe here, and they should feel at home here,” Mr Burke said.

The players are Fatemeh Pasandideh, Zahra Ghanbari, Zahra Sarbali, Atefeh Ramazanzadeh and Mona Hamoudi.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has since reported that at least two more players have now sought asylum in the country.

The ABC added that the remaining players left Sydney International Airport for Kuala Lumpur on March 10.

The team were in Australia for the Women’s Asian Cup.

Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency said the five players secretly left the team hotel with Australian police, and media reports said they were seeking Australian government assistance after “breaking free”.

Having initially posted on social media that Australia was “making a terrible humanitarian mistake” by allowing the team to be sent back home, Mr Trump said in a later post that he had spoken to Mr Albanese and that the Australian leader was “doing a very good job having to do with this rather delicate situation”.

“Some, however, feel they must go back because they are worried about the safety of their families, including threats to those family members if they don’t return,” Mr Trump added.

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei dismissed Mr Trump’s comments, saying: “They slaughtered more than 165 innocent Iranian schoolgirls in a double-tap Tomahawk attack in the city of Minab, and now they want to take our athletes hostage in the name of ‘saving’ them?”

Baghaei also wrote on X: “To Iran’s women’s football team: don’t worry – Iran awaits you with open arms.”

The team’s Asian Cup campaign started just as the US and Israel launched air strikes on Iran. They were eliminated from the tournament on March 8 after losing 2-0 to the Philippines.

Football’s global players’ union Fifpro said on March 9 there were serious concerns for the welfare of the Iran team after they were labelled “wartime traitors” for refusing to sing their national anthem before a game.

The players’ decision to stand in silence during Iran’s anthem before their first match against South Korea on March 2 was labelled by a commentator on Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting as the “pinnacle of dishonour”.

Iranian media quoted Farideh Shojaei, vice-president for women’s affairs at Iran’s football federation, as saying the team had left the hotel through the back door with the police.

“We have contacted the embassy, the football federation, the foreign ministry and anywhere possible to see what will happen,” she said. “We have even spoken with the families of these five players.”

Meanwhile, in Asian Cup action in Perth on March 10, Japan finished as Group C winners with nine points from three games after a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Vietnam, who were eliminated.

Riko Ueki headed the Nadeshiko into the lead in the 21st minute, before second-half goals from Maika Hamano (51th), Aoba Fujino (64th) and Kiko Seike (67th) sealed the rout.

They will next face the Philippines in the quarter-finals on March 15. Chinese Taipei also reached the last eight with a 3-1 win over India in Sydney. Their reward is a clash against defending champions China on March 14. REUTERS