Only two of the seven members of the Iranian women’s soccer team remain in Australia after a fifth player withdrew her claim for asylum and opted to leave.
The Australian government had done everything it could to present them with “genuine choices,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement Sunday, adding that while it could “ensure that opportunities are provided and communicated, we cannot remove the context in which the players are making these incredibly difficult decisions.”
Initially, six players and a support staff member from a squad list of 26 players accepted humanitarian visas to stay in the country before the rest of the Iranian contingent flew from Sydney to Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, last week.
Concerns over their safety came after players did not sing their national anthem ahead of their Asia Cup match against South Korea, two days after the United States and Israel began their war with Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The women, who were branded “traitors” on Iranian state television, then sang the anthem at their next two games and have not commented publicly on the war or their actions.
The five who withdrew their claims are now expected to join the rest of the team in Malaysia where the squad has been staying as strikes continue to hit their homeland.
Burke and other officials had initially celebrated the women’s decision to seek asylum, saying the offer was also made to most other members of the team in “emotional” meetings as they were boarding their departing flight from Sydney.
Iranians in Australia have nonetheless accused the government of pressuring the women whose relatives remain in Iran. Australian officials have denied this.
The “women were being used as a pawn in a political game,” said Shahram Akbarzadeh, a professor who specializes in the Middle East at Australia’s Deakin University.
While there could be repercussions for those who initially sought asylum, it was unlikely that their lives would be at risk, he told NBC News on Monday.
“Their life is not going to be dangerous,” Akbarzadeh said. “The regime will be embarrassed by this episode and it will make them pay, perhaps by banning them from playing games for a period of time.”
However, in recent days, Iranian state media has toned down its attacks on the women, emphasizing that they are welcome to return home while ramping up criticism of President Donald Trump.
The semi-official Tasnim News Agency said the five women were “returning to the warm embrace of their family and homeland,” calling it a “disgraceful failure of the American-Australian project and another failure for Trump.”
The Iranian Football Association said the team was expected to leave Malaysia for Tehran soon “to once again be embraced by their families and homeland.”
Australia’s Assistant Immigration Minister Matt Thistlethwaite described the situation involving the Iranian players as “very complex.”
“They’re deeply personal decisions, and the government respects the decisions of those that have chosen to return, and we continue to offer support to the two that are remaining,” Thistlethwaite told Sky News Australia.
