GOLD COAST, Australia — Iran's soccer team lost its last group match at the Women's Asian Cup on Sunday and had to contemplate returning home to a country embroiled in war.
The Iranian women's squad arrived in Australia for the continental championship last month, before the war that began with the U.S. and Israel Feb. 28 strikes on Iran. Teams ousted during the group stage usually leave within days but organizers have not announced details for the departure of the Iran delegation.
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Their silence during the anthem before an opening loss to South Korea last Monday was viewed by some as an act of resistance and others as a show of mourning. The team hasn't clarified. But the players sang the anthem and saluted during the national anthem ahead of their 4-0 loss to Australia last Thursday and a 2-0 loss to Philippines on Sunday.
Amid concerns for player welfare following reported criticism in the Iranian media, the Australian Iranian Council wrote to Australia's Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke urging the government to protect the squad members while they're in Australia.
It launched an online petition, which had more than 50,000 electronic signatures before kick-off Sunday, urging Australian 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" and also to provide independent legal advice, support and interpreters.
Iran team management and players have mostly declined to comment on the situation at home during more than a week preparing for and playing games on Australia's Gold Coast, although Iran forward Sara Didar choked back tears in a news conference last Wednesday as she shared their concerns for their families, friends and all Iranians during the conflict.
The Australian Associated Press reported late Sunday that protestors chanting "let them go" slightly delayed the departure of the Iran squad from the stadium.
Australia's national news agency quoted Iran's head coach Marziyeh Jafari saying the squad "want to come back to Iran as soon as we can."
"I want to be with my country and home ... We are eager to come back," AAP quoted Jafari as saying.
The Australian Iranian Council's online petition asked local authorities to ensure any player seeking protection "can do so safely, privately, and without interference" and to "make clear that Australia will uphold its … humanitarian protection obligations in relation to any player at risk of persecution or serious harm.
"Where credible evidence exists that visiting athletes may face persecution, imprisonment, coercion, or worse upon return, silence is not a neutral position," it said. "The current wartime environment has intensified repression, fear, and the risks faced by anyone publicly perceived by the Islamic Republic as disloyal."
Foreign Minister Penny Wong declined to comment on whether the Australian government had made contact with individuals but told domestic media Australia stood in solidarity with the Iranian women's team.
"It has been really moving for Australians to see them in Australia, and (Australia's women's team) swapping jerseys with them was a very evocative moment," Wong told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Sunday. "We know this regime has brutally oppressed many Iranian women."
Iranian Australian activist Tina Kordrostami, a local government member in Sydney's Ryde Council, told The Australian newspaper the Iranian players "need an opportunity, a safe space, a chance to actually speak up about what their needs are and what their requirements are."
"We can't give them that space without the government helping us," she said.
The Iranian women's team needed to beat Philippines to maintain any chance of advancing to the Asian Cup quarterfinals, which would have extended its stay in Australia for more than another week.
