Australian official touts bravery of Iranian women's soccer team as some receive asylum

At slightest six members of the Iranian women’s shot squad decided to enactment successful Australia and question asylum, alternatively of going backmost to their location state wherever they look warfare and the anticipation of adjacent worse if they determine to spell back.

Five of the six members of the squad were granted asylum connected Tuesday. Two others were besides seeking asylum, but 1 of them changed their minds. There were much than 20 members of the squad who came to Australia to vie successful the Women’s Asian Cup.

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Members of the Iranian women's nationalist shot squad look astatine Kuala Lumpur International Airport aft attending a Group A lucifer of the AFC Women's Asian Cup successful Australia, successful Sepang, Malaysia, March 11, 2026.  (REUTERS/Hasnoor Hussain)

Tina Kordrostami, a councilor for the metropolis of Ryde successful Australia, told Fox News successful an interrogation connected Wednesday the crushed wherefore astir of the girls decided to spell backmost was due to the fact that of their families.

"So, their household is the No. 1 crushed that the girls privation to spell backmost location and the No. 1 happening they're disquieted and frightened about," she said. "The 2nd thing, arsenic I mentioned, is each they person is successful Iran and they are fearful of their individuality and losing thing that they person built implicit the past fewer years for it.

"I cognize for a information that they don't privation to beryllium surviving there. They are passionate athletes. They are women who, you know, person truthful overmuch to accidental astir their individuality and who they are. And due to the fact that they are successful the nationalist oculus wrong Iran, they are restricted adjacent much than others. No logical idiosyncratic would privation to stay successful that country, particularly if they person the enactment to stay. You know, they had it truthful adjacent that it was offered to them. And they were truthful adjacent to having everything that they wanted. And yet they inactive chose their household implicit their own, unrecorded their ain future."

The squad arrived successful Australia earlier Israel and the U.S. launched a associated violative against Iran connected Feb. 28. The strikes led to the decease of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Iranian players refused to sing their nationalist anthem earlier an opening nonaccomplishment to South Korea past Monday, which was viewed by immoderate arsenic an enactment of resistance, which was dubbed by an Iranian commentator arsenic the "pinnacle of dishonor." The squad didn’t clarify. But the players sang the anthem and saluted earlier their losses to Australia and the Philippines.

Members of the Iranian women's nationalist shot squad get astatine Terminal 1 of Kuala Lumpur International Airport aft attending a lucifer successful Group A of the AFC Women's Asian Cup successful Australia, astatine Sepang, Malaysia, March 11, 2026. (REUTERS/Hasnoor Hussain)

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As their clip successful the tourney came to an end, the anticipation of astatine slightest immoderate of the players applying for a humanitarian visa became a reality.

Kordrostami told Fox News she believed the Australian authorities could person done more.

"Here’s 1 happening that I judge the authorities should person done: they, immediately, aft the archetypal game, should person entered the girls’ hotel, they should person sat down with them," she said. "Dismissing each of the security, each of the unit they had determination with them, with authoritative cardinal figures wrong our authorities arsenic well. They should person sat down with these girls and they should person laid everything retired for them.

"They should person reached retired to the diaspora and gotten each the contacts from the families. They should for allowed for them to person a clear, unfastened speech with their families wrong that country for nevertheless agelong they needed to. …Within a day, they should person enactment unneurotic a program for these girls to question information for their families. … I americium not blessed contiguous astatine all. I americium truthful sad. I'm truthful concerned. And I conscionable cognize that if we weren't truthful constricted by our rules and regulations, we could person perchance clasp held connected to the full team."

Kordrostami stressed the value of what the women who near the squad did.

"I privation much radical to beryllium speaking astir these girls," she said. "These girls are a model into Iran for us, for everyone to recognize precisely what radical are surviving through. The control, the coercion, the restrictions, the limitations, this is the world for 90 cardinal radical wrong that country."

Australian officials stressed that they made each effort to springiness the Iranian squad the enactment to stay.

In this photograph supplied by Australia's Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke's office, the Minister Tony Burke, center, poses successful an undisclosed determination with 5 Iranian women shot players who person been granted asylum successful Australia, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (Australia Ministry of Home Affairs via AP)

Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the accidental for the players to see asylum came down to last-minute discussions astatine Sydney Airport wherever the women were separated from their minders and had clip to telephone their families.

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"Everything was astir ensuring the dignity for those individuals to marque a choice," helium said. "We couldn’t instrumentality distant the unit of the discourse for these individuals, of what mightiness person been said to them beforehand, what pressures they mightiness person felt determination were connected different household members."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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