Five Iranian footballers flee hotel, seek asylum in Australia, says exiled crown prince

Five members of Iran’s women’s soccer team left the hotel where they were staying in Australia and sought asylum in the country, according to Iranian opposition figure and exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi. The Sydney Morning Herald also said the women, who were branded traitors by Iranian state television over the weekend for refusing to sing their national anthem before a match, had fled the hotel and planned to seek asylum in Australia.

Australian authorities have been urged to help players from the Iranian team following their elimination from the Asian Cup, fearing what could happen to them if they return home as planned amid the current crisis. US-Israel war with Iran.

The office of Pahlavi, whose father, the Western-backed Shah, was overthrown during the Islamic Revolution in 1979, said on social media that his opposition group had learned of the five players seeking asylum and named them in the post.

“These five brave athletes, currently in a safe place, have announced that they have joined the National Revolution of the Lion and the Sun of Iran,” the post from Pahlavi’s office added, referring to Iran’s flag before the Islamic Revolution.

Sources in the Iranian-Australian community told the Morning Herald the women were “receiving support” after taking a break from the rest of their team and handlers in the Gold Coast area on Monday night.

“The police have taken them to a safe place,” Brisbane-based human rights activist Hadi Karimi told the newspaper. “It’s great, it’s amazing.”

Australia’s Department of Home Affairs did not immediately respond to a request from News themezone to confirm that the five had applied for asylum.

If Australia grants refuge to the women, it is likely to draw harsh criticism from Iran.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Monday she did not want to “enter into comment” on the fate of the women.

Before their first match of the tournament in Australia, against South Korea, the players refused to sing or salute their country’s national anthem, prompting calls for harsh punishment from conservatives within Iran. The Islamic Republic’s state television network called them “traitors” and accused them of “the pinnacle of dishonor.”

“We all have very reasonable and serious concerns for their safety,” Craig Foster, former captain of the Australian men’s soccer team and human rights advocate, told News themezone partner BBC News.

“When any team participates in a tournament regulated by FIFA, whether it is the Asian Football Confederation or any other confederation, it must have the right to security and external support to express any concerns it has about its safety now or in the future.”

In the next two games, the team sang and saluted their anthem. Alireza Mohebbi, Australian correspondent for opposition news network Iran International, told Australian broadcaster ABC that the players would not have done it by choice. “It is completely obvious that the Islamic Republic regime and the security team that is with the players in Australia forced them to sing the anthem,” he said. “In the first game against South Korea they didn’t do it, but now, with all the pressure and the media spreading the news all over the world, it is completely obvious that the regime pushed them not only to sing the anthem but to give the military salute. There is no doubt.”

After the match that sealed the team’s exit from the tournament on Sunday, Iranian fans, many of them carrying the flag of the pre-Islamic Republic of Iran monarchy, surrounded the team bus as it left the Gold Coast stadium, chanting “let them go” and banging on the side of the vehicle, according to The Guardian.

After 15 minutes blocking the bus, local police intervened to corral the crowd of about 200 people so the bus could depart.

Other banners seen among protesters read: “Stay safe in Australia. Talk to the police” and “If your house isn’t safe, mine is.”

Some of the players inside the vehicle smiled and waved, others filmed, but at least one closed the curtains as the bus began the 15-minute ride back to their hotel.

Some of the fans left standing next to the stadium in the rain cried.

It was unclear when the players would leave their hotel or where they would go next.

A group of Iranian community and civil society groups have contacted Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, raising their “serious concerns” for the players.

“They were held hostage in their hotel by the leadership of the Iranian team and were denied the opportunity to speak to members of the outside community, friends, family or any support network, whether lawyers or anyone else,” Foster, who helped the Afghan women’s team flee the Taliban in 2021, told the BBC. “Some may have concerns, others may not, but what we know is that most of them have families at home, some have children at home, and even if they are offers the right to remain in Australia, if they feel unsafe, many of them may not accept that opportunity.

“The most important thing is that this offer be made,” he added.

President Trump, in a Monday post on his Truth social media platform, accused Australia of “making a terrible humanitarian mistake by allowing the Iranian women’s national soccer team to be forced to return to Iran, where they will most likely be killed,” calling on the country’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to grant them asylum, and adding: “The United States will take them if you don’t.”

In a later post, she wrote: “Just spoke to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia about the Iranian women’s national football team. He’s on it! Five have already been cared for and the rest are on the way. However, some feel they must return because they are worried about the safety of their families, including threats to those family members if they don’t return.”

He added that Albanese “is doing a very good job in this quite delicate situation. God bless Australia!”