Australia has granted asylum to five members of Iran’s women’s football team, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has confirmed.
United States president Donald Trump had urged Australia to act, with fears the team could face persecution if they returned to Iran after they did not sing the national anthem before their first match at the Asian Cup in Gold Coast.
In normal circumstances their return home would be imminent, with the team exiting at the group stage after Sunday’s defeat to the Philippines.
President Trump had said the US would grant asylum to the players if Australia did not.
In a subsequent post on his social media platform Truth Social, he praised Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese for taking action after the two leaders spoke on the phone.
Burke confirmed the formal process for them to remain had now been signed off.
“Last night I was able to tell five women from the Iranian Women’s Soccer team that they are welcome to stay in Australia, to be safe and have a home here,” Burke said on X.
Reports circulated on Monday that Australian Federal Police (AFP) had assisted five members of the squad in leaving the team base and entering a safe house following the team’s exit from the Asian Cup on Sunday.
Speaking at a press conference in Brisbane on Tuesday morning, Burke confirmed the five players had been “moved to a safe location by the Australian Federal Police”, where their meeting took place.
“I signed off last night for their applications to go onto humanitarian visas, and a little bit after 1.30am this morning, the processing was completed by the department of home affairs,” he told reporters.
“I say to the other members of the team, the same opportunity is there.”
Trump had applied pressure on Australia to take in the whole squad, saying the country would be “making a terrible humanitarian mistake” by allowing them to be “forced back to Iran, where they will most likely be killed”, adding “The US will take them if you won’t”.
In an updated post following his direct talks with Albanese, President Trump said: “He’s on it! Five have already been taken care of, and the rest are on their way.
“Some, however, feel they must go back because they are worried about the safety of their families, including threats to those family members if they don’t return.”
Football’s world governing body FIFA said on Monday it was in “close contact” with the Australian authorities concerning the team, saying their safety and security was FIFA’s priority.
The players did sing the national anthem and salute during their last two matches, but their decision not to sing it prior to the first game drew criticism from supporters of the Iranian regime.
The decision by the Trump administration and Israel to launch air strikes on Iran has prompted retaliatory attacks by Iran on Gulf states housing US military bases, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
That has created travel and administrative issues throughout the region which threaten to scupper Iraq’s hopes of playing in a World Cup play-off match in Mexico on March 31.
Iraq’s coach, Australian Graham Arnold, has suggested playing the match against Bolivia or Suriname the week before the finals kick off in June, with the winning team staying on in North America.
He told the Australian Associated Press (AAP) that would also allow more time for a decision to be taken on Iran’s participation in the World Cup.
Arnold suggested if they withdrew, Iraq could take their place and the UAE could replace Iraq in the play-offs.
