Iran women’s football player reverses asylum decision in Australia, opts to return home

Sydney— One member of Iran’s women’s national football delegation who initially sought asylum in Australia has reversed her decision and chosen to return to Iran, the country’s interior minister said on Wednesday, as several team members remained in a secure location after fears grew over their safety following a controversial match earlier this month.

Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told parliament that two additional members of the delegation 21-year-old striker Mohaddeseh Zolfi and support staff member Zahra Soltan Moshkehkar accepted the government’s offer of assistance on Tuesday evening after five players from the squad were granted asylum a day earlier.

Burke said, however, that one of the two individuals who initially chose to remain in Australia later reconsidered after speaking with teammates who had already departed and decided to return to Iran.

He did not specify which of the two had changed their decision.“In Australia, people are able to change their mind, people are able to travel. And so, we respect the context in which she has made that decision,” Burke said.

Concerns over the players’ safety escalated after Iranian state television described the team as “wartime traitors” for declining to sing the national anthem during a women’s Asian Cup match held in Australia earlier this month.

The episode triggered a series of asylum requests among members of the delegation while they were in Australia for the tournament.

Burke said Australian authorities moved the remaining players who sought protection to a secure location after the individual who reversed her decision contacted the Iranian embassy, inadvertently revealing where they were staying.