Player pulled onto bus as team departs Gold Coast
Updated ,first published
Jubilation over the granting of humanitarian visas to five members of the Iranian women’s football team after a dramatic escape from their mentor has been tempered by fears for the safety of the remaining players if they return home to face possible persecution in Iran.
Members of the Iran women’s football team flew from Coolangatta airport to Sydney after a player was forced onto a bus by teammates, raising expectations the team could fly out of Australia as early as Tuesday night.
Fans tried to block the path of the bus carrying the team, including lying in front of the vehicle and chanting “Save our girls”, but failed. The police tried to drive them away and the bus eventually set off towards the airport, escorted by police.
Crowds also waited for the team when they arrived at Sydney Airport on Tuesday night; Members of the Australian-Iranian community shined flashlights from the terminal as players, coaches and officials were taken from Qantas planes to an airport transfer bus waiting on the tarmac.
About 12 Australian Federal Police officers watched the traveling party exit the plane and board the bus, which was escorted by several police and Sydney Airport vehicles.
Iranian Australians have produced posters encouraging players to seek help from the federal government if they want to stay in Australia, after five of their team-mates bravely escaped from the rest of the squad on Monday night and were granted humanitarian visas to stay here.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urged more players to seek refuge in Australia earlier Tuesday, while advocates called on authorities to immediately detain regime leaders and even implored airline staff to prevent these players from flying out of the country.
The escaped players were identified as captain Zahra Ghanbari and her teammates Fatemeh Pasandideh, Zahra Sarbali, Atefeh Ramezanizadeh and Mona Hamoudi.
The day after five members of the Lionesses national football team fled their hotel to seek refuge in Australia, a bus carrying 15 other team members and support staff left their accommodation on the Gold Coast at around 1pm local time (2pm in Sydney and Melbourne) on Tuesday.
The cast was seen entering and exiting the lobby of the RACV Royal Pines Resort for two hours, with the entire crew leaving the hotel and re-entering approximately half an hour later.
A player was seen being put on a bus by his teammates.
Earlier, Albanese celebrated the escape of the five players, saying they should feel at home in Australia.
“We are ready to help other women in the team, we point out that this is a very sensitive situation and the decision is up to them,” she said.
“But we tell them: ‘If you want our help, the help is here and we will provide it.'”
NSW Premier Chris Minns said any of the departing players would be “warmly welcomed” into his state and they would be embraced by the large Iranian diaspora.
“They are some of the most generous, loving, courageous people we have,” he said.
Speculation was circulating on Tuesday morning that more players were leaving the team known as the Lionesses, but this was strongly denied by the Home Office.
Opposition home affairs spokesman Jono Duniam said he was concerned about a player being pushed onto the team bus.
“The coalition has worked with the government to ensure visa options are available to all members of the Iranian women’s football team,” he said.
“If there is any pressure, the authorities must take action with the full force of the law.”
Albanese said he spoke to Donald Trump at 2am after the US president angrily complained on social media that Australia was not doing enough to protect women.
Trump’s call for Australia to grant asylum to the women comes after five members of the team had already escaped and those tags and others reported being protected by police.
“We had a very positive meeting,” Albanese said of his early morning meeting with Trump.
“He was concerned about the welfare and safety of the Iranian women on the football team should they return home. He conveyed this to me. I was able to convey to him the action we had taken in the last 48 hours, that five members of the team had sought help, received help and were located safely.”
Albanese continued: “There is help available for other members of the squad, but that is of course their decision. If they decide to ask for support they will get it.”
Human rights defender Sara Rafiee has called on the police to interrogate all those responsible and have their visas cancelled, given the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation.
He said this would give players more power to decide whether they wanted to stay in Australia or return to Iran, a call backed by other Iran-Australia community leaders.
“We are grateful to the Australian government for acting quickly in granting visas to the Five Lionesses,” he said.
“We also support calls for the government to immediately revoke the visas of any accompanying Islamic Republic officials or security personnel who threaten or intimidate these players and place them in immigration detention while their conduct and possible links to the Revolutionary Guard are investigated on national security grounds and for threats and intimidation.”
Rafiee said the situation was similar to domestic violence cases where victims separate from their partners to avoid being subjected to coercive control.
“The safety of these women must come first,” she said.
Members of the Iranian diaspora elected official Mohammed Rahman Salari as the manager who supervised the players in Australia.
Liberal frontbencher Julian Leeser said: “The government must immediately revoke the visas of all accompanying security personnel involved in threats or intimidation against these brave women and place them in immediate immigration detention.”
Branding the regime in Tehran as “terrorist and murderer”, Leeser said: “They killed 30,000 of their own citizens last month. We must take the fear of revenge seriously.”
Leeser said each member of the team should have the opportunity to speak individually to an Australian Border Force agent or other government official and seek asylum if they wish.
“We must offer women on the Iran team an alternative to returning to Iran, subject to all normal security checks,” he said.
Minister of Internal Affairs Tony Burke stated that they were happy that the identities of the escaped players were identified and emphasized that they saw themselves as athletes, not political activists.
“There’s been a lot of work going on in recent days to make sure that we have the maximum number of opportunities for these women to know that they can seek help if they want to, and that we have the maximum number of opportunities for them to seek that help directly,” Burke, who traveled to Brisbane to assist with the escape effort, told reporters.
He continued: “I tell the other members of the team that the same opportunity exists.
“Australia has taken the Iranian women’s football team into our hearts. These women are extremely popular in Australia, but we are aware that they are in an extremely difficult situation with the decisions they have made.”
“But the opportunity will continue to be there to speak to Australian officials if they wish.”
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