Seven women from the Iranian national soccer team remain in Australia, an Australian government official said Wednesday, as the rest of their team journeys back to a country at the center of a widening conflict in the Middle East.
They had arrived to play in the Asian Women’s Cup before the United States and Israel began striking Iran on Feb. 28, and were knocked out of the tournament over the weekend.
Six of the women have accepted humanitarian visas that will allow them to stay in Australia permanently, while the seventh has decided to return to Iran after all, said Tony Burke, Australia’s home affairs minister.
“In Australia, people are able to change their mind, people are able to travel and so we respect the context in which she has made that decision,” Burke told lawmakers in Canberra.
The woman, whom Burke did not name, was one of two people —a player and a support staff member — who had accepted Australia’s offer of help Tuesday night, in addition to five others who were granted asylum a day earlier. Burke said she changed her mind after speaking to some of the teammates who had already left, and that she had been advised to contact the Iranian Embassy and arrange to be picked up.
“My officials made sure that this was her decision and every question you would want asked was asked,” he said.
With their location now exposed, the other women were quickly moved elsewhere, Burke added.
On Tuesday night, as the rest of the delegation went through customs and immigration at the Sydney airport for their departing flight, most members were pulled aside individually and “given a choice” by Australian government officials speaking through interpreters, Burke said.
“We made sure there was no rushing, no pressure,” he told reporters earlier Wednesday. “Everything was about ensuring the dignity for those individuals to make a choice.”
No one else took up Australia’s offer of asylum at the “emotional” meetings, during which some of the team members called their families in Iran, Burke said.
“I can’t begin to imagine what people have been weighing up,” he said.
The women’s story has captivated Australia since their first game March 2, when they stayed silent during their national anthem in what was seen variously as a show of protest or mourning.
“That silence was heard as a roar all around the world,” Burke said.
The women, who were branded “traitors” on Iranian state television, then sang the anthem at their two subsequent games Thursday and Sunday. They have not commented publicly on the war or their actions.
Supporters, including Iranian Australians, who feared the women would be punished after returning home blocked the team’s bus as it left a hotel for the airport in Australia’s Gold Coast. Others appeared at the Sydney airport Tuesday night.
Their situation also drew the attention of President Donald Trump, who praised Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s handling of the “rather delicate situation” and said the U.S. would take in the women if Australia did not.
The Asian Football Confederation, which organized the tournament, said Wednesday that the team was staying in a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, after flying from Sydney.
“The AFC will provide all necessary support to the team during their stay until their onward travel arrangements are confirmed,” the group said in a statement, adding that it would “continue to prioritize the welfare and safety of the players and officials.”
Iranian officials have rejected the idea that the team members will face persecution once they return.
“Iran awaits you with open arms. Come home,” Esmaeil Baqaei, spokesperson for the Iranian foreign minister, said Tuesday in a post on X.
Mehdi Taj, the head of Iran’s soccer federation, accused Australian authorities of kidnapping the players. He also said the episode cast further doubt on Iran’s participation in the FIFA World Cup, which the U.S. is hosting this summer along with Canada and Mexico.
“Considering the problems created for female footballers, if the outlook for the World Cup is like this, no reasonable person would agree to be sent to the U.S.,” he was quoted as saying by Iranian state media.
