The Iranian women’s football team will return to the Middle East after the majority of the seven squad members who were seeking asylum in Australia reversed their decisions.
Windsor John, the general secretary of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), said he was told the team is now flying to Oman – but this is not their final destination.
He said he was not aware of their full travel plans, which have been organised by the Iranian embassy, and it remains unclear if the team will return to Iran.
When asked if the team would be safe in Iran, he said the AFC and FIFA would check up on the team regularly.
The team flew from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur on March 10 after being eliminated from the Women’s Asian Cup in Australia.
Concerns for the team were raised by human rights activists and Donald Trump when the players did not sing the Iranian national anthem in protest before a match.
The US President urged Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to offer the squad asylum.
Six players and a member of staff then stayed in Australia having accepted protection visas and seeking asylum.
But four of the players, as well as the staffer, have since reversed course and have reunited with their team in Kuala Lumpur.
Members of the Iranian women’s football team are now headed home from Kuala Lumpur’s airport
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The AFC chief claimed there were no direct complaints from players about returning home, despite media reports about retaliation they might face.
Australia’s Assistant Immigration Minister Matt Thistlethwaite said the situation was “very complex” and added the Government respects the decisions of the football players who chose to return to the team.
He added the Government will “continue to offer support to the two that are remaining”.
The two players who stayed in Australia have now been moved to an undisclosed safe location and are receiving aid from the Government and the Iranian community.
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Captain Zahra Ghanbari was one of six players who decided to withdraw their asylum application
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Donald Trump urged Australia to offer asylum to the team – which it then did
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The team was embraced as “heroes” by Iran’s former men’s coach Afshin Ghotbi, who said their decision to stay silent during the national anthem brought him to tears.
Iran’s embassy in Canberra remains staffed, despite the Australian Government expelling the ambassador and cutting off diplomatic relations in August.
Australian political scientist Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who was imprisoned in Iran between 2018 and 2020, said “winning the propaganda war” had overshadowed the welfare and safety of the women.
Human rights activists said players were coerced to abandoning their asylum claims through intimidation targeting relatives back home.
While the majority of the team are now returning home, two players remain in Australia
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But Iranian state TV claimed the players were pressured to seek asylum by the Australian authorities.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency said the players were “returning to the warm embrace of their family and homeland”.
Fears remain that the team faces persecution and jail upon their arrival to Iran.
The team has already lost one player.
Zahra Azadpour, 27, is said to have been shot dead in January by Iranian forces while protesting against the regime in Karaj.
