Australia has confirmed that two more members of the Iranian women’s football team have received humanitarian visas, after five players were earlier granted asylum over concerns for their safety should they return to Iran, following the team failing to sing their national anthem before a recent match.
A player and a member of the team’s support staff decided to stay in Australia after seeking asylum, Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke told reporters on Wednesday.
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The pair has now joined five other team members granted humanitarian visas on Tuesday, Burke told reporters.
He said the pair sought asylum before the team departed the country late on Tuesday night, adding that all the women were taken aside individually by Australian officials and interpreters, without Iranian minders present, and offered asylum as they passed through security at Sydney airport.
“They were given a choice,” said Burke, who later posted images of the players on social media.
“In that situation, what we made sure of was that there was no rushing, there was no pressure,” he said.
Burke also said that some people linked to the team were not offered asylum, without providing details. One member of the delegation delayed boarding the departing flight from Sydney while they contacted family members and deliberated about staying in Australia, Burke said.
“We weren’t sure which way that person would go,” he said. “That individual ultimately made their own decision.”
The seven team members who had requested asylum have received temporary humanitarian visas, which is a pathway to permanent residency in Australia, Burke said.
According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), the visas offered to the team members are valid for 12 months and are similar to those granted to applicants from Ukraine, Palestine and Afghanistan.
The team’s departure from their hotel in Australia’s Gold Coast and arrival at the domestic airport in Sydney before their international departure took place amid protests, as Iranian Australians sought to prevent the women from leaving the country, citing fears for their safety in Iran.
‘Iran awaits you with open arms’
Concerns about the players’ safety emerged after Iranian state television labelled the team “traitors” for refusing to sing the national anthem before their first Asia Cup match in Australia. The team later sang the anthem at other matches.
However, the office of Iran’s general prosecutor said on Tuesday that the remaining members of the team were invited home “with peace and confidence”, Iranian media reported.
“These loved ones are invited to return to their homeland with peace and confidence, and in addition to addressing the concerns of their families,” the general prosecutor’s office was quoted as saying by Iran’s Tasnim news agency.
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, also urged the players to “come home”.
“To Iran’s women’s football team: don’t worry – Iran awaits you with open arms,” Baghaei wrote on X on Tuesday.
The Iranian team joined the Women’s Asian Cup tournament in Australia just as the US and Israel launched their war on Iran, killing the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and many senior officials.
At least 1,255 people have been killed in the US-Israeli war on Iran, which has entered its 11th day and has seen devastating air strikes on the capital, Tehran, and other cities, as well as key infrastructure and civilian sites.
The high-profile offer of asylum to the football players also comes as the Australian government moved to introduce legislation to ban people from certain countries travelling to Australia who authorities fear might overstay their visa due to the war in the Middle East.
According to the ABC, the proposed law would allow the government to stop people from nominated countries entering Australia for up to six months, even if they already have a valid temporary visa.
The Australian Greens party said on Tuesday the law was “clearly aimed at preventing people from Iran from seeking safety in Australia”.
“We know who this is aimed at by Labor, it’s aimed at the people of Iran, the people of Lebanon, the people of Qatar and the entire Middle East. It is clearly designed to be a Trump-like mass visa freeze,” said Greens Senator David Shoebridge.
Kon Karapanagiotidis, chief executive of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, said the Australian government was acting hypocritically.
“Australia and the US are sending our military to the Middle East to liberate the people of Iran and at the same time they are legislating so they can shut the door to those same people who need our protection — and who already have a visa to travel to Australia,” he said, according to the ABC.
