Australia granted humanitarian visas Tuesday to five members of the Iranian women’s national soccer team after a long political standoff that involved a direct call-out from President Donald Trump and raised questions about the safety of athletes returning to a country during wartime.
The five players were transported by Australian Federal Police from their Gold Coast hotel — where the squad was staying while competing in the Women’s Asian Cup — to a secure location in the early morning hours, per Reuters. Australia’s Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke finalized their humanitarian visas and posted photographs to social media showing the women smiling and clapping as he signed their documents.
“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,” Burke wrote on X, alongside the photos.
Burke also confirmed the offer of asylum remains open to all 26 players on the official roster, as well as coaching staff.
The crisis for the players began on March 2, when some Iranian teammates stood silent as their national anthem played before the squad’s opening match against South Korea. Iranian state television branded the women “traitors” and accused them of “the pinnacle of dishonor.” In their following matches, players sang the anthem and some even offered what observers described as a military-style salute. However, sources close to the team told CNN they had been pressured to do so under direct threats against their families back home.
Sports journalist Raha Pourbakhsh, reporting for Iran International TV, said the families of at least three of the five asylum seekers had already received threats.
Trump Steps In
President Trump entered the picture on Monday with back-to-back posts on his Truth Social account.
In the first post, Trump wrote, ”Australia is 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. Don’t do it, Mr. Prime Minister, give ASYLUM. The U.S. will take them if you won’t.”
Within a few hours, allegedly following a phone call during the middle of the night, Trump posted again praising Australia’s prime minister for making progress.
“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. In any event, the Prime Minister is doing a very good job having to do with this rather delicate situation,” the president wrote in a follow-up post.
Chaos at the Hotel
Tuesday afternoon, crowds gathered outside the team’s Gold Coast hotel. Protesters — some carrying pre-revolutionary Iranian flags — lay down in front of a white bus believed to be transporting the remaining teammates to the Gold Coast Airport. Chants of “Save our girls” filled the street before the bus departed.
Human rights advocate Hadi Karimi told reporters that onlookers could see at least three players inside making what he described as a recognized international distress hand signal.
By Tuesday evening, CNN reported that two additional team members — a player and a staff member — were also seeking asylum, bringing the total remaining in Australia to at least seven. The majority of the rest of the squad was believed to have already departed back to Tehran.
Iran’s Leaders Push Back
Iranian officials were quick to respond. First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref dismissed the recent headlines as “psychological warfare” and accused Trump of interfering in the family affairs of the Iranian people. “Iran welcomes its children with open arms and the government guarantees their security…No one has the right to interfere in the family affairs of the Iranian nation and play the role of a nanny who is kinder than a mother,” he said, PBS reported.
Iran’s football federation also formally requested that global soccer authorities investigate what it called Trump’s “direct political interference in football,” warning the conduct could jeopardize the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which kicks off in June with Dallas among the host cities.
Burke confirmed Tuesday that the players who received asylum had asked that their identities be made public, yet also stressed that they did not consider themselves “political activists.”
The squad had arrived in Australia before war broke out in Iran on Feb. 28. The team lost all three of its group stage matches and was eliminated from the Asian Cup before the asylum crisis came to a boiling point earlier this week.