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Iranian women football players sit with Australian officials after asking for protection and special visas in Australia.
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Five Iranian Women Footballers Seek Asylum in Australia

Five Iranian women footballers seek safety in Australia after silent anthem protest sparks fear of punishment at home.

By Fahad

Iran Women National Football – (Web Desk) – Five players from Iran’s visiting women’s football team asked for asylum in Australia on Tuesday. They said they fear going back home after being called traitors for not singing the nation

al anthem.

Before a tournament match in Australia last week, the Iranian players stood quietly while the anthem was played. Many people saw their silence as a sign of protest against the situation in their country.

Five players, including captain Zahra Ghanbari, slipped away from the team hotel under the cover of darkness to claim sanctuary from Australian officials.

“We’ve been preparing for this for some time,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

“Australians have been moved by the plight of these brave women. They’re safe here, and they should feel at home here.”

Pictures showed the players huddled around a table as Burke signed paperwork granting them special visas to stay in Australia on humanitarian grounds.

The players broke out into chants of “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie”, Burke said, adding that the rest of the team would also be welcome to stay in the country if they wished.

It was not clear if the remaining players in the Iranian squad would fly home — or when they might leave Australia.

US President Trump was among the first to confirm five players were safely in the care of Australian officials, following a late-night call with Prime Minister Albanese.

He had hours earlier urged Australia to do the right thing, saying it would be a “terrible humanitarian mistake” if the players were forced back to Iran.

A presenter on Iranian state TV branded the players “wartime traitors” after they stood motionless during the anthem before a match against South Korea last week.

Although they sang the anthem — an ode to the glory of the Islamic Republic — in later matches, human rights activists warned the damage was done.

“The members of the Iranian Women’s National Football Team are under significant pressure and ongoing threat from the Islamic Republic,” said Reza Pahlavi, the son of the late Shah of Iran.

“I call on the Australian government to ensure their safety and give them any and all needed support,” he said on social media.

Pahlavi has billed himself as the man to lead a democratic transition to a secular Iran as the theocratic regime fights to survive.

The US and Israel bombarded Iran with heavy missile fire on February 28, martyring Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei with the opening salvos of a war that now threatens to engulf the Middle East.

Politicians, human rights activists and even “Harry Potter” author JK Rowling had called for Australia to offer the side protection.

Crowds gathered outside the Gold Coast stadium where the side played their last match over the weekend, banging drums and shouting “regime change for Iran”.

Supporters surrounded the Iranian team bus, chanting “let them go” and “save our girls”. On Monday, an AFP journalist saw members of the team speaking on phones from their hotel room balconies.

 

 

 

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