Australia has agreed to provide visas to five members of the Iranian women’s football team, allowing them to stay in the country, as they could face punishment upon their return home for not singing the Iranian national anthem before their first match at an Asian Cup tournament.
Australian Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke told a news conference on Monday that he had informed the five members “that they are welcome to stay in Australia, that they are safe here, and they should feel at home here”.
The Department of Home Affairs named the five team members as captain Zahra Ghanbari, midfielders Fatemeh Pasandideh, Zahra Sarbali Alishah, Mona Hamoudi, and defender Atefeh Ramezanizadeh.
Burke said the remaining players on the Iranian team, which is visiting Australia for the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Women’s Asian Cup 2026 in Queensland, are in a hotel on the Gold Coast.
He added that he had also offered the other team members the chance to stay in Australia.
The players’ decision to stand in silence during Iran’s anthem before their match against South Korea was labelled as the “pinnacle of dishonour” by a commentator on Iran’s IRIB state broadcaster.
The announcement to grant the players visas came after United States President Donald Trump, who is currently waging war on Iran alongside ally Israel, said that he had spoken to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese about the “delicate situation” faced by the team, and that Albanese was “on it!”
“Five have already been taken care of, and the rest are on their way. 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,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
Earlier, Trump had called on Albanese to “give ASYLUM” to the team, which was knocked out of the tournament on Sunday after losing their last group game against the Philippines, warning the Australian leader that he would be making a “terrible humanitarian mistake” if he allowed the team’s players to be “forced back to Iran, where they will most likely be killed”.
Albanese told reporters on Tuesday that he had a “very positive” phone call with Trump about the Iranian players.
“I was able to convey to him the action that we’d undertaken over the previous 48 hours, and that five of the team had asked for assistance and had received it and were safely located,” Albanese said.
“Assistance remains available for the other members of the team, but it, of course, is a decision for them. If they make a decision to ask for support, they will receive it,” he said.
Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency said that five players who were in Australia for the Asian Cup had secretly left the team hotel with Australian police.
The Iranian team’s participation in the football tournament started just as the US and Israel launched air strikes on Iran on February 28, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and at least 1,255 more people in more than a week of bombing.
While the team did not sing the anthem ahead of their first match, they did sing it and saluted before their second match against Australia, sparking fears among human rights campaigners that the women had been coerced by their government minders, who had reportedly escorted them everywhere while in Australia.
Global football players’ union FIFPRO said earlier on Monday that there were serious concerns for the welfare of the team as they prepared to return home after being labelled “wartime traitors”.
Elijah Buol, CEO of Australian nonprofit organisation the Asylum Seekers Centre, described the decision to grant asylum visas as a “compassionate and practical step that recognises the serious risks many Iranian people face if they are forced to return to Iran”.
However, Buol added, “this moment should be the start, not the end”.
“It must shine a light on the many Iranian people seeking asylum already living in our community who remain in limbo, waiting for certainty and protection,” Buol said.
Aljazeera.
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