Three more members of Iran’s women’s soccer team who had accepted refugee visas to remain in Australia have decided to return to Iran, Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Sunday.
Burke said the departures followed an overnight decision by the players to rejoin the rest of the team on its journey back to Iran. In a statement, Burke said the players told Australian officials they had made the choice and were given repeated chances to discuss their options.
The announcement leaves three of an initial seven squad members in Australia, after the team’s earlier movements in the days surrounding the Women’s Asian Cup. Australia said the Iranian team arrived in the country last month, before the Middle East war began on Feb. 28.
Burke said Australia could offer choices and communicate opportunities, but he said the government could not remove the context in which the players were making “these incredibly difficult decisions.” He added that the government had done what it could to ensure the women were given the chance for a safe future in Australia.
According to Burke, six players and a support staff member from a squad list of 26 initially accepted humanitarian visas to stay in Australia before the rest of the Iranian contingent flew from Sydney to Malaysia on March 9. He said another later changed her mind and left Australia, with three departing Sydney for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Saturday night, while the rest of the team remained in Kuala Lumpur.
Tasnim News Agency said the latest three to leave Australia were two players and the support staff member. The Iranian outlet described the return as a “returning to the warm embrace of their family and homeland,” and it framed the earlier departures as part of a failed effort tied to the United States and Australia.
Concerns about the team’s safety in Iran rose after the players did not sing the Iranian national anthem before their first match, according to the report. Iranian groups in Australia and the U.S. President Donald Trump had urged help for the women.
Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers, one of the most senior members of the Australian government, said he was worried about the women who had changed their minds about staying. Chalmers said on Seven Network television that he could “only image the pressure that they feel” and how difficult those decisions would be for them, and he said he was pleased that three of the Iranian women would remain in Australia.
In his statement, Burke said Australians should be proud that the country presented the Iranian team with choices and sought to help them, while he emphasized that the players still had to decide under difficult circumstances.