The captain of Iran’s women’s soccer team has decided to withdraw her asylum application in Australia, marking her as the latest team member to do so amid concerns for their families’ safety back in Iran.
According to Iran’s IRNA news agency, Zahra Ghanbari, aged 34, has chosen to return home, describing her decision as “returning to the embrace of the homeland” after she withdrew her asylum request on Sunday.
Last week, seven members of Iran’s national team, who participated in the Women’s Asian Cup, made international headlines when they sought asylum in Australia. This move followed their controversial refusal to sing the Iranian national anthem during the tournament.
Their protest coincided with US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran that resulted in the death of the Islamic Republic’s longstanding Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In Iran, these women were labeled as “traitors,” raising serious concerns about their safety upon returning, especially given Tehran’s harsh crackdown on dissent, which resulted in thousands of deaths in January. Their families also face potential threats due to the players’ courageous stand.
Following global attention to their plight, and even an offer from President Trump to grant them refuge in the US if Australia declined their asylum requests, five out of the seven players have now chosen to return to Iran.
The players were “given repeated chances to talk about their options” but ultimately faced “incredibly difficult decisions,” Australia Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement Saturday.
Tina Kordrostami, a councilor for the Australian city of Ryde, claimed the players were being ” heavily intimidated” by Tehran, suggesting their families were being used as leverage to get them back home.
âI know families have even been detained. I know family members are missing,” Kordrostami told Fox Newsâ âFox Report With Jon Scott.â
“One thing I really would like for people in the West to understand is that Iranians within the country have in many ways given up on the West, and they are only relying on one another to survive this regime,” she added.
“We are very worried about them. We know for a fact that they will not be safe,” she said, referencing claims that the women face severe consequences once they return back home.
