Iranian women soccer players break free, seek asylum in Australia
Updated ,first published
Five Iranian women football players are being protected by police in Queensland after a daring escape from their team’s administrators to avoid being sent back to possible persecution in their home country.
Multiple sources in the Iranian-Australian community said the women received support after being separated from the rest of the delegation on the Gold Coast on Monday night.
“The police took them to safety,” said Brisbane-based human rights activist Hadi Karimi.
“Great, amazing.”
Human rights activist Minoo Ghamari said she understood five women had left the team and wanted to seek asylum in Australia.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs was contacted for comment.
The players’ dramatic escape could have significant political ramifications as the hardline regime in Tehran battles the United States and Israel to retain power in a war that spreads across the Middle East.
Iranian state television presenter Mohammad Reza Shahbazi last week accused the team of failing to sing the national anthem before their first match against South Korea on Monday, branding them “wartime traitors” who “should be dealt with more harshly”.
Shahbazi’s comments raised fears that women could be in danger if they returned to their homes; However, staying in Australia could also pose a risk to their loved ones in Iran.
The head of the Australian players’ union has previously stated that he is deeply concerned about the welfare of Iranian players and said officials were unable to contact the women about whether they wanted to seek asylum in Australia.
Team members flashed what appeared to be an SOS hand signal from their team bus on Sunday night, while advocates pleaded with the Australian government to do everything possible to allow them to remain in Australia.
The Iranian team, known as the Lionesses, played their final match of the Women’s Asian Cup in the Gold Coast on Sunday night and lost 2-0 to the Philippines.
Footage taken after the match showed at least one woman on the bus waving an international aid sign to a crowd of protesters outside.
The movement is performed by holding one hand up, inserting the thumb into the palm and folding the fingers over it.
Beau Busch, co-chairman of Professional Footballers Australia, said on Monday: “The reality at the moment is we cannot contact the players.
“This is incredibly worrying, this is nothing new, this has actually been around since the pressure got to this point in earnest in February, January etc.
“We’re really concerned about the players, but our responsibility right now is to do everything we can to make sure they’re safe.”
Busch said it was important to ensure there was “some pressure put on the players to make sure they are safe, that they have a decision about what happens next, whether they can stay here in Australia or whether they want to come back, how do we do that safely and then make sure they are incredibly safe when they return to Iran”.
On Monday, a small group of protesters gathered outside the players’ hotel on the Gold Coast to demand that the Australian government offer support to Iranian players.
It is unknown when the remaining members of the team will leave Australia, but it is expected to happen within the next few days.
Mobina Fouladband, an Iranian immigrant who moved to Australia to escape oppressive conditions, said the group had traveled from Sydney to Queensland to support the team apart from the Sunday night game.
“The Australian government should do everything it can,” he said.
“There is a war situation there, there is the Islamic Republic, and frankly, I am more afraid of the Islamic Republic.”
Exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who some members of the diaspora want to see return to lead the country, said in a message to his 2.1 million followers on X on Monday morning: “Members of the Iran Women’s National Football Team are under serious pressure and ongoing threat from the Islamic Republic. As a result of their courageous act of civil disobedience by refusing to sing the current regime’s national anthem, they will face dire consequences if they return to Iran.”
“I call on the Australian government to ensure their safety and provide them with whatever support they need.”
There are more than 71,000 people signed a petition Since Friday we have been calling on the government to ensure that no members of the team leave Australia while there remain credible fears for their safety.
Iranian-Australian community leaders wrote to Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke on Sunday, urging him to ensure women are fully informed of their legal protections in Australia.
Community leaders told Burke there were “serious concerns that Islamic Republic officials accompanying the team were closely monitoring the players and intimidating them, including by providing false information that they would be detained offshore and sent to a ‘desert island’ if they attempted to seek refuge in Australia.”
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