Five members of the Iranian national women's soccer team who sought asylum in Australia a week after refusing to sing Iran's national anthem before a match will be allowed to stay in the country, according to an Australian official.
"Last night I was able to tell five women from the Iranian Women's Soccer team that they are welcome to stay in Australia, to be safe and have a home here," Australia's Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Monday on X.
Burke posted images of him signing a piece of paper alongside the Iranian athletes.
The Department of Home Affairs did not immediately respond to a CBS News request to confirm that the five had applied for or been granted asylum.
The soccer players had been staying in a safe location after fleeing their hotel, Iranian opposition figure and exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi said Sunday.
It was unclear where the players would go next following Burke's announcement.
Trump praises Australian prime minister after initial criticism
In a Monday post on Truth Social,President Trump wrote, "I just spoke to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, of Australia, concerning the Iranian National Women's Soccer Team. He's on it! Five have already been taken care of, and the rest are on their way. Some, however, feel they must go back 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 having to do with this rather delicate situation. God bless Australia!"
Before Burke's announcement, Mr. Trump had criticized Australia and accused the country of "making a terrible humanitarian mistake by allowing the Iran National Woman's Soccer team to be forced back to Iran, where they will most likely be killed."
In an earlierTruth Social poston Monday morning, he called on Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to grant them asylum, adding, "The U.S. will take them if you won't."
Why did Iranian soccer players seek asylum in Australia?
Before their first game of the tournament in Australia, against South Korea on March 2, the players declined to sing or salute their country's national anthem, prompting calls for harsh punishment from conservatives back inside Iran. The Islamic Republic's state television network branded them "traitors" and accused them of "the pinnacle of dishonor."
In their two subsequent matches, the team sang and saluted their anthem. Alireza Mohebbi, a correspondent in Australia for the opposition Iran International news network, told Australian networkABCthe players would not have done so by choice.
"It's completely obvious that the Islamic Republic's regime, and the security team which is with the players in Australia, forced them to sing the anthem," he said. "In the first match with South Korea, they didn't do it, but now with all the pressure and media spreading the news around the world, it's completely obvious the regime pushed them not just to sing the anthem but to do the military salute. There is no doubt."
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Australian authorities were urged to help the women following their exit from the Asian Cup on Sunday, over fears of what might happen to them if they fly back home as scheduled amid the ongoingU.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
The office of Pahlavi, whose father, the Western-backed Shah, was ousted during the Islamic Revolution in 1979, said onsocial mediathat the "courageous athletes" announced that "they have joined Iran's national Lion and Sun Revolution" — a reference to the pre-Islamic Revolution flag of Iran — and naming them in the post.
After the game that sealed the team's exit from the tournament on Sunday, Iranian fans, many carrying the flag of Iran's pre-Islamic Republic monarchy, surrounded the team's bus as it left the Gold Coast stadium, chanting "let them go" and banging on the side of the vehicle, according toThe Guardian.
After 15 minutes blocking the bus, local police intervened to corral the crowd of 200 or so people so the bus could depart.
Others banners seen among the protesters read: "Stay Safe in Australia. Talk to Police" and "If your home is not 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 drive back to their hotel.
The five Iranian players made a break from the rest of their team and its handlers in the Gold Coast area, sources in the Iranian-Australian community told the Morning Herald, adding that the women were "receiving support."
"We all have very reasonable and serious concerns for their safety," Craig Foster, a former captain of the Australian men's soccer team and a human rights advocate, told CBS News partner networkBBC News.
"When any team participates in a Fifa-regulated tournament, whether Asian Football Confederation or any other confederation, they must have the right to safety and external support to express any concerns they have around their safety now or in future."
A group of Iranian community and civil society groups had contacted Burke outlining their "grave concerns" for the players.
"They've been held hostage by the Iranian team management in their hotel and they've been denied the opportunity to speak to external community members, friends, family or any support networks, be that 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 most of them have families back home, some of them have children back home, and even if offered the right to remain in Australia, if they feel unsafe, many of them may not accept that opportunity."
"What's most important is that that offer is made," he added.
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