Facing war and repression at home, Iranian soccer players get refuge

WASHINGTON (TNND) — Several members of the Iranian women’s soccer team have been granted asylum in Australia after refusing to sing Iran’s national anthem during an international tournament, a silent protest that raised fears for their safety if they returned home.

Australia approved humanitarian visas for six players and one staff member after days of lobbying by support groups and President Donald Trump urging the country to protect them. One person has since withdrawn her asylum request and started the trip back to Iran. Humanitarian visas allow recipients to stay in the country and apply for permanent residency.

The players have not elaborated on why they did not sing the country’s anthem ahead of their opening game at the Asian Cup, but the gesture is seen as a protest against Iran’s government. The team arrived in Australia before the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran started on Feb. 28 and were knocked out of the tournament over the weekend, leaving them to face a return to a country under constant bombardment and widening crackdown on dissent.

“Australia has taken the Iranian women’s soccer team into our hearts,” Australian home affairs minister Tony Burke said on Tuesday.

The anthem protest sparked criticism inside Iran and prompted some calls for severe punishment on Iranian state media. It drew international attention over concerns the theocratic government could impose harsh consequences, endangering their safety once they returned home.

“When those players were silent at the start of their first match in Australia, that silence was heard as a roar all around the world,” Burke said Wednesday.

Iranian athletes have previously used the national anthem as a form of protest. In the 2022 men’s World Cup, Iran’s men’s soccer team refused to sing the national anthem before their opening game against but did do so during following games. That tournament took place amid widespread protests against the Iranian regime.

Five of the women were also included in a photo on social media with Burke without the black hijabs they wore throughout the tournament and are mandatory for women in Iran. They have been taken to a secure location by federal police and put on a pathway for permanent status in Australia.

Iran’s theocratic government aggressively punishes dissent. The regime’s intolerance to dissent was highlighted earlier this year when it killed thousands of Iranians who took to the streets to protest its rule. Human rights groups have estimated the death toll from the protests to stand at more than 7,000 in a total that is expected to climb, though Iranian authorities dispute the figures.

Trump had called on the Australian government to grant the players asylum and said the U.S. would if they didn’t.

Iran’s football federation and government called Trump’s entreaties a “direct political interference in football” and rejected concerns the women weren’t safe to return home.

“Iran welcomes its children with open arms and the government guarantees their security,” Iranian first Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said Tuesday. “No one has the right to interfere in the family affairs of the Iranian nation and play the role of a nanny who is kinder than a mother,” he added.

The football federation also claimed Trump’s remarks could disrupt the 2026 World Cup that will be held in North America.

On Wednesday, Iran’s youth and sports minister said it would be “not possible” for the country to take part in the World Cup, claiming the players are not safe in the U.S. after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed during the outset of the war.

“Due to the wicked acts they have done against Iran — they have imposed two wars on us over just eight or nine months and have killed and martyred thousands of our people — definitely it’s not possible for us to take part in the World Cup,” Ahmad Donyamali said on state television.

Some members of the team — separate from those granted visas — were not offered asylum after officials said they had connections to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard

International sports competition has long provided an opportunity for athletes to defect from their home countries and seek asylum.

In the height of the Cold War in 1956, dozens of Hungarian athletes and officials opted against returning to their country amidst an invasion by the Soviet Union in a move that sparked protests during the Olympics in Australia. Future 18-time Grand Slam tennis champion Martina Navratilova defected to the U.S. in 1975 as the Czechoslovakian government was limiting her travel over concerns she was becoming too aligned with the West.

More recently, Iraqi weightlifter Raed Ahmed opted to defect to the U.S. during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta after carrying Iraq’s flag during the opening ceremony over fears of being persecuted for his faith. More than 200 athletes and officials from African nations sought asylum in Australia after the Commonwealth Games in 2018, though most were denied.