Two players and one staff member of the Iran women's national soccer team who took part in an international tournament in Australia have withdrawn their bids for asylum.
According to AFP and others on the 15th local time, Australia's Home Affairs Department said the previous day that three members of the Iran women's national soccer team had decided to drop their bids for asylum and return home. Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency also said two players and one support staff member from Iran had abandoned their asylum applications and were heading to Malaysia. They were reported to have traveled to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the previous night.
Australia Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke said in a statement, "Last night, three members of the Iran women's national soccer team decided to join the journey back to Iran with the rest of the team," adding, "The Australian government did everything possible to give them the chance to build a safe future here, but they made an incredibly difficult decision."
As four of the six Iran team players and one staff member who had recently sought asylum withdrew their decisions, only three now remain in Australia. On the 11th, one Iran team player also told the Australian government of an intention to seek asylum but withdrew it a few hours later.
Earlier, 26 Iran team players entered Australia on the 28th of last month to compete in the 2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Asian Cup, before war broke out among the United States, Israel, and Iran. In their first group-stage match against Korea on the 2nd, they did not sing along when the national anthem was played, and Iran's state broadcaster condemned them as "wartime traitors."
In subsequent matches, Iran team players all gave a hand salute and sang the anthem, but concerns were raised in the international community about their safety. U.S. President Donald Trump also urged the Australian government to grant asylum to the Iran team players.
On the withdrawal of the Iran team players' asylum bids, Tasnim news agency called it "a humiliating failure of the U.S. and Australia's project and another failure for President Trump."