The drama brought international attention to a team already under scrutiny after players remained silent during Iran’s national anthem at their first Asian Cup match — a gesture widely read as defiance of the country’s theocratic government — and it unfolded as Iran’s war, which began Feb. 28, left the squad facing a return to a country under bombardment.
Six members of Iran’s women’s national soccer team have been granted humanitarian visas to remain permanently in Australia after most of their teammates declined last-minute asylum offers at Sydney Airport and boarded a flight home Tuesday night, Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Wednesday.
Seven players had accepted visas before the team traveled to the airport, each taken to a secure location by Australian police. One of those seven later changed her mind and returned to Iran — a reversal that inadvertently exposed the remaining six women’s safe-house location to the Iranian embassy, forcing Australian authorities to move them immediately to a new site.
Burke pledged the six women would not have to fight a legal battle for permanent residency and would receive health, housing, and other support in Australia.
The episode drew international attention after the Iranian squad remained silent during their national anthem at their first Asian Cup match in Australia — a gesture widely read as defiance of the country’s theocratic government, though the players have not publicly disclosed their views or explained their actions. They sang the anthem before subsequent games. The team arrived in Australia before Iran’s war began Feb. 28 and was knocked out of the tournament over the weekend, leaving the squad facing a return to a country under bombardment.
Last-minute offers at the airport
As the team’s departure time drew near Tuesday, Australian officials separated each woman from team officials inside the terminal and met with her individually. Interpreters were present to ensure each player understood she was free to choose not to board.
“Everything was about ensuring the dignity for those individuals to make a choice,” Burke said. “We couldn’t take away the pressure of the context for these individuals, of what might have been said to them beforehand, what pressures they might have felt there were on other family members.”
Despite those overtures, most of the squad declined asylum and departed. Burke said officials had been left “exhausted” and feared they had failed the women who flew home.
“As a nation, what mattered was that we could provide the choice,” he said.
One reversal triggers a security crisis
The precarious nature of the women’s decisions was underscored by the reversal. Burke said the woman who initially accepted a visa was advised by her departed teammates and coach to contact the Iranian embassy, which then learned where the asylum-seekers were being sheltered.
“As a result of that, it meant that the Iranian embassy now knew the location of where everybody was,” Burke said. The six remaining women were immediately moved to a different location, he said.
News outlets published a photo on Wednesday that appeared to show a woman being led by the wrist by a teammate toward the bus bound for the airport, another squad member’s hand at her shoulder. Burke described the meetings between Australian officials and the women as “emotional.”
International dimensions
U.S. President Donald Trump criticized Australia on Monday for not offering the women asylum. It emerged the following day that discussions between Australian officials and the team had already been under way privately.
Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref rejected suggestions the players were not safe to go home. “Iran welcomes its children with open arms and the government guarantees their security,” Aref said Tuesday. “No one has the right to interfere in the family affairs of the Iranian nation and play the role of a nanny who is kinder than a mother.”
Iranian state television said Iran’s football federation had asked international soccer bodies to review what it called Trump’s “direct political interference in football,” warning such remarks could disrupt the 2026 World Cup.
Visa screening and the squad’s whereabouts
Burke said some members of the delegation, whom he described as having connections to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, were not offered visas.
“There were some people leaving Australia who I am glad they’re no longer in Australia,” he said.
The exact size of the delegation was not clear; an official roster named 26 players plus coaching and other staff. The Asian Football Confederation confirmed Wednesday the squad had traveled from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where they were staying in a hotel. The AFC said it would “provide all necessary support to the team during their stay until their onward travel arrangements are confirmed.”