Australia grants asylum to 5 Iranian soccer players
GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA—Australia granted asylum to five members of the Iranian women’s soccer team who were visiting the country for a tournament when the Iran war began, a government minister said on Tuesday.
The announcement followed days of urging by Iranian groups in Australia and by US President Donald Trump for the Australian government to help the women, who had not spoken publicly about a wish to claim asylum.
The team drew widespread speculation and news coverage in Australia when players didn’t sing the Iranian anthem before their first match.
Early on Tuesday, Australian federal police officers transported five of the women from their hotel in Gold Coast, Australia, “to a safe location” after they made asylum requests.
There, they met with Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke and the processing of their humanitarian visas was finalized, the minister told reporters in Brisbane hours later.
“I don’t want to begin to imagine how difficult that decision is for each of the individual women, but certainly last night it was joy, it was relief,” said Burke, who posted photos to social media of the women smiling and clapping as he signed documents.
“People were very excited about embarking on a life in Australia.”
The women granted asylum were happy for their names and pictures to be published, he said. Burke added that the players wanted to make clear that they were “not political activists.”
The Iranian team arrived in Australia for the Women’s Asian Cup last month, before the Iran war began on Feb. 28.
