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IRAN’s female football team has been flown out of Australia as claims emerge their families have been taken hostage in Iran.
Five of the players were granted asylum in Australia on Monday after they fled their handlers, and it is understood more have joined them today.
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The squad was plunged into crisis after they refused to sing the national anthem before their Asia Cup match against South Korea on Australia‘s Gold Coast last Monday.
Iranian state media said their decision to stand in silence was the “pinnacle of dishonour”, adding that “traitors during wartime must be dealt with more severely.”
The backlash sparked fears over the players safety, with US president Donald Trump warning they would “be killed” if they were “forced back to Iran”.
A frenzy erupted outside their Gold Coast hotel as players were dragged onto a coach set to leave Australia amid furious protests.
Shocking footage showed one player being firmly pulled by the wrist onto the coach by a teammate while another was heard wailing.
The team travelled to Sydney to catch a flight out of the country, but two more players and one procurement manager did not get on the Malaysia Airlines plane.
They too have been granted humanitarian visa’s by the Australian government, the Daily Mail reports.
The five players earlier granted asylum have been identified as Fatemeh Pasandideh, Zahra Ghanbari, Zahra Sarbali, Atefeh Ramazanzadeh and Mona Hamoudi.
Concerns have been raised about whether the rest of the team was coerced into returning to Iran.
A woman who met the team in the hotel said the atmosphere was “tense and heavily controlled” with players “under constant monitoring” by officials from the Islamic Republic, news.com.au reports.
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A chilling four-word message smuggled by a player’s family out of Iran to the team read: “You need to stay”.
Fears over their families safety back in Iran were sparked after a team member sent out a message to a women’s group in Australia.
According to The Australian, the message said: “They have taken all our families hostage.”
Meanwhile Iran have urged the players to “come home”.
“To Iran’s women’s football team: don’t worry – Iran awaits you with open arms,” Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei wrote on X.
The message came just hours after an image of the five stars were pictured smiling with Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke as he finalised their paperwork to remain in Australia.
The office of Iran’s general prosecutor also said the remaining members of the team were invited back to the country “with peace and confidence”.
“These loved ones are invited to return to their homeland with peace and confidence, and in addition to addressing the concerns of their families,” the office told Iran’s Tasnim news agency.
Trump, who is currently at war with Iran alongside Israel, said he had spoken to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese about the “delicate situation” faced by the team.
The US President’s comments sparked a fierce response from the regime.
Baghaei dismissed Trump’s statement, questioning the US president’s claims of “saving” the players after new footage of a February 28 attack on an Iranian girls’ school which killed 165 students.
In a post on X he wrote: “They slaughtered more than 165 innocent Iranian schoolgirls in a double-tap Tomahawk attack in the city of Minab, and now they want to take our athletes hostage in the name of ‘saving’ them?”
English (US) · 