By Praveen Menon and Katharine Jackson
Australia's Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke grants five women from the Iranian women's soccer team humanitarian visas
SYDNEY/WASHINGTON, March 10 (Reuters) - Australia on Tuesday granted humanitarian visas to five Iranian women soccer players after they sought asylum, fearing persecution on their return home for their refusal to sing the national anthem at an Asia Cup match.
"Australians have been moved by the plight of these brave women," Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told a news conference in Canberra on Tuesday, a day after police had helped extract the women from their Iranian government handlers.
"They're safe here, and they should feel at home here."
U.S. President Donald Trump praised Albanese for allowing the women to stay, saying on social media the U.S. was ready to take the players if Australia did not.
Australian officials identified the players as Zahra Sarbali Alishah, Mona Hamoudi, Zahra Ghanbari, Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramezanizadeh. They were staying at an undisclosed location under police protection, officials said.
Albanese said help was also available to the other players currently in Australia with the Iranian national team, but it was up to them to accept.
Television footage showed several other Iranian players leaving their hotel in the northeastern city of Gold Coast on a bus on Tuesday afternoon. It was not clear which players were on the bus or where they were going.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke posted pictures on his X account showing him posing with the five players after granting their visas.
He said the government had been in secret talks with the players for days but acknowledged fleeing was a difficult decision for them.
"Even though the offer continues to be there for other members of the team, it is quite possible and indeed likely that not every woman in the team will make a decision to take up the opportunity that Australia would offer to them," he said.
"VERY GOOD JOB"
Trump initially posted on social media that Australia was "making a terrible humanitarian mistake" by allowing the team to be sent back home, apparently unaware that Australia had been in secret talks with the women for several days.
Trump said members of the team would "likely be killed" if forced to return to Iran. "The U.S. will take them if you won't," he added.
In a later post Trump said he had spoken to Albanese and that the Australian leader was "doing a very good job having to do with this rather delicate situation".
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Albanese said Trump rang him just before 2 a.m. (1500 GMT Monday).
"I was able to convey to him the action that we'd undertaken over the previous 48 hours, and that five of the team had asked for assistance and had received it and were safely located," Albanese said.
The Iranian team's campaign in the Australian-hosted Asian Cup tournament started just as the U.S. and Israel launched air strikes on Iran, killing the Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. They were eliminated from the tournament on Sunday after losing 2-0 to the Philippines.
"WARTIME TRAITORS"
Soccer fans and governing agencies started expressing concerns about the welfare of the team after they were labelled "wartime traitors" on state television for refusing to sing their national anthem before their first match against South Korea.
The players' decision to stand in silence was labelled by a commentator on Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting as the "pinnacle of dishonour".
The Iranian team sang their anthem and saluted before their second match against Australia, sparking fears among human rights campaigners that the women had been coerced by government minders.
Iranian media quoted Farideh Shojaei, vice president for women's affairs at the Iranian Football Federation, as saying the team had left the hotel through the back door with the police.
"We have contacted the embassy, the football federation, the foreign ministry and anywhere possible to see what will happen," she said. "We have even spoken with the families of these five players."
Global players' union FIFPRO said they remained concerned about the safety and wellbeing of the other players and their families in Iran.
"The focus needs to remain on ensuring that all of the players have agency and are aware of their rights," Beau Busch, FIFPRO Asia/Oceania President told Reuters in a statement.
Iranian media said other team members were still in Australia and quoted Shojaei as saying the squad had planned to return to Iran via Dubai, but the United Arab Emirates had not allowed them to do so.
It said efforts were now expected to be made for the team to return via Malaysia and Turkey.
Australia granted emergency humanitarian visas to over 20 members of the Afghanistan women's cricket team after the Taliban returned to power in 2021 and banned women's sport.
(Reporting by Katharine Jackson, Renju Jose and Praveen Menon; Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in Washington and Parisa Hafezi in Dubai; Writing by Michelle Nichols and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Ed Osmond, Ken Ferris, Shri Navaratnam and Stephen Coates)
