3 other members of the Iranian women’s football team decided not to stay in Australia as refugees
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Three other members of Iran’s women’s soccer team who received refugee visas to live in Australia have decided to return to their country, an Australian government minister said on Sunday.
The departure leaves three members of Australia’s first team seven.
“Suddenly, three members of the Iran Women’s Football Team have made the decision to join the rest of the team on their return trip to Iran,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement.
“After telling Australian officials to make this decision, the players were given repeated opportunities to discuss their options,” added Burke.
Iran’s team arrived in Australia for the Asian Women’s Cup last month, before Israel and the United States launched surprise airstrikes on their country on February 28.
Initially, six players and support staff from the official squad of 26 players received humanitarian visas to stay in Australia before the rest of the Iran team flew from Sydney to Malaysia on March 9.
One later changed his mind and left Australia. The trio left Sydney for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Saturday night, a government official said. The rest of the team has remained in Kuala Lumpur since turning their backs on Australia.
Iran’s Tasnim News Agency said the latest trio to leave Australia were two players and support staff. The three “returned to the warm friendship of their family and country,” the news release said.
The Iranian news agency described the return of women to the group as “a shameful failure of the American-Australian project and another failure of Trump.”
The Australian government was urged to help the woman by some Iranian groups in Australia and the US President Donald Trump.
But earlier this week, Iran head coach Marziyeh Jafari said the players “want to return to Iran as soon as possible,” according to Australian news agency AAP.
The players largely refused to comment on the war back home during the tournament, although Iran striker Sara Didar broke down in tears at a news conference as she shared her concerns for their families, friends and all Iranians during the conflict.
Concerns about the team’s safety in Iran were raised when the players did not sing the Iranian national anthem before their first match against South Korea. This act has been designated by some as an act of resistance to others as a sign of fasting but the group did not clarify.
The team later sang and played the national anthem before their two remaining games.
The war in Iran has killed more than 2,000 people, most of them in Iran, and caused the biggest oil supply disruption in history – pushing oil prices to record highs as shipping stalls in a region that supplies a fifth of the world’s oil.
