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Iran’s women’s football team has recently drawn attention to Australia’s asylum policies as seven members associated with the team have been granted refuge in the country. This comes alongside the government’s initiative to propose changes to immigration legislation in parliament.
A mere 10 days after members of the Iranian national team made headlines by not singing their national anthem at the Asian Cup—a gesture widely interpreted as a silent protest—five players accepted humanitarian visas to remain in Australia, citing safety concerns if they returned to Iran.
The following day, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke announced that two additional players had chosen to accept asylum in Australia, while the rest of the group departed for Malaysia. Burke also revealed that one player had reversed her decision regarding the asylum offer.
On Wednesday, the Iranian Football Federation accused Australian entities of spreading “baseless claims” to the players, alleging they faced arrest or execution upon returning to Iran.
According to Mehdi Taj, the president of the Iranian Football Federation, following the team’s match against the Matildas, “Australian police intervened and escorted some of the players away from their hotel.”
“They [players] were told if they go back, they’ll arrest them all and execute them … Baseless claims,” Taj said on Iranian state television in Farsi, which SBS News has translated.
Burke told reporters players were “given a chance” to seek asylum and there was “no pressure”.
“What we made sure of was that there was no rushing, there was no pressure. Everything was about ensuring the dignity for those individuals to make a choice,” he said.
It isn’t the first time Australia has intervened to protect athletes under threat.
The fall of Kabul
When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, Australia became a safe haven for roughly 100 athletes.
At the centre of this cohort was the Afghan women’s national football team.
In spite of assurances made by the Taliban during peace talks in the lead-up to August 2021, once coming to power, the group quickly imposed restrictions on women — especially in work and education.
Afghan team member Fatima Yousufi said the fall of Kabul was a “very dark day for women”.
Speaking with SBS Dari in 2023, Yousufi said at that moment, she felt that her football dreams had been razed.
Separated from her parents and youngest sister, she fled to Australia with her teammates, describing “the sound of gunfire and blasts, the sound of frightened people” as she tried to reach the gates of Kabul airport.
Yousufi became the captain of the Afghan Women’s Team (AWT), which was supported by Melbourne Victory to play at the Victorian State level 3.
“When we arrived in Australia, we wanted to play together again, we didn’t want to lose our second family again. Fortunately, we were able to play again and didn’t end up playing for different teams,” she said.
While their move to Australia opened doors for education and work, the professional athletes haven’t competed at a global level since.
Locked in a battle for recognition with FIFA, the team lost a 2023 bid to play in the World Cup and another to play in the 2026 Asian Cup.
Described as a “team in exile“, without acknowledgement from their home country, FIFA has said it cannot recognise the team.
In 2025, exiled members of the Afghan team from across the world — including 13 from Australia — were invited to play a series of friendlies against Chad, Libya and the United Arab Emirates in Dubai, as part of the FIFA-supported Afghan Women’s Refugee Team, also known as Afghan Women United.
In the lead-up to the event, AWT defender Mursal Sadat told SBS World News she couldn’t describe how happy and proud she was.
“It shows that no matter how much restrictions you put on women in Afghanistan, FIFA will still give a chance to them,” she said.
A campaigner in their corner
The AWT’s asylum bid in Australia was largely spearheaded by former Afghan team captain and activist Khalida Popal, with the help of former Socceroos captain and human rights advocate, Craig Foster.
Foster has been a prominent voice in helping sports stars reach safety in Australia.
He led the #SaveHakeem campaign in 2018, which ultimately freed Bahrainian footballer Hakeem al-Araibi from a Thai Jail and brought him to Australia for asylum, and was pivotal in bringing roughly 100 sporting professionals from Afghanistan to Australia in 2021 after the fall of Kabul.
Foster said he was also involved in the campaign to inform the Iranian football team of their right to asylum in Australia.
Foster said the incident demonstrated the “horrific reality of human rights abuse” and urged the global football community to monitor the remaining women.
“The scenes of anguish that touched the hearts of so many Australians are ones that play out every minute, of every day, all around the world,” he said in a Facebook post.
“The priority is to ensure that no harm comes to the returning group.”
‘A very long road ahead’
Iranian athletes are often subject to surveillance from the regime, and in some cases have faced retribution for acts considered protests.
In 2020, 27-year-old wrestler Navid Afkari was accused of murder, tortured and eventually executed after taking part in anti-government protests.
In 2022, the Iranian men’s football team were criticised and threatened by government officials when they staged a silent protest at their World Cup opening match against England.
Fears spread for the Iranian women’s team after their own refusal to sing at the Asian Cup opening match drew the ire of Iranian state television, which labelled them “wartime traitors”.
Foster said the group in Australia would be cared for by the football community, but that the women had a “very long road ahead”.
Burke welcomed the women who chose to stay in Australia, stating the nation was “lucky they chose us”.
The minister said he had also been asked by players if he could help get their families out of Iran.
“The challenge with Iran is we can’t even get Australian citizens, necessarily out of Iran,” he said.
“And I was very up-front in my meetings with people, because they’d ask me, ‘Can I now help their family members if I help them?’”
Treatment of asylum seekers under renewed scrutiny
The Asylum Seekers Centre welcomed the asylum for the Iranian players, but stressed that it was just the beginning.
“This is a compassionate and practical step that recognises the serious risks many Iranian people face if they are forced to return to Iran,” Asylum Seekers Centre CEO Elijah Buol OAM said in a statement.
“But this moment should be the start, not the end. It must shine a light on the many Iranian people seeking asylum already living in our community who remain in limbo, waiting for certainty and protection.”
Buol said it was imperative to recognise that the danger was felt by all people seeking asylum.
This week, federal Labor introduced a bill seeking to block people from certain countries from obtaining temporary visas because of the war in the Middle East.
Minor parties and Independents criticised the move, with Greens immigration spokesperson David Shoebridge calling the “hypocrisy” of the changes “hard to stomach”, and likely prevent Iranians seeking refuge as the war in the Middle East continues.
“On the same day that Labor gave that one chance to a handful of brave Iranian women footballers, they shut the door to 7,200 other Iranians who had already been granted visas, who had the security clearances,” he told reporters in Canberra.
The government has maintained the bill will not focus on particular countries, but Burke said Iranian circumstances had changed.
“It is unusual to have an event of this scale where the number of visitor visas would be so significant,” Burke told reporters on Wednesday.
The Asylum Seeker Centre called on the government to ensure Iranian people seeking asylum had access to safety, fair processes and a clear pathway to permanent protection.
“Protection should not rely on having a platform,” Buol said.
“Safety must not be contingent on the presence of TV cameras.”
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