Five players have defected from Iran’s women’s football team and are being cared for in a safe house operated by the Australian Federal Police.
Sources with direct knowledge of the event, who spoke anonymously due to the current danger facing the team, say the operation occurred after Iran’s final Women’s Asian Cup match against the Philippines in Australia, and police helped the five people leave the hotel early on Monday afternoon local time.
The sources added that Australian government representatives had briefed the team on their options earlier in the week. All five players were discovered missing from the team’s scheduled dinner on Monday.
Following the US and Israeli attacks on Iran and subsequent retaliation and military operations in the Middle East, the Iranian women’s team was labeled “wartime traitors” by state television and apparently threatened with repercussions upon their return to the country after failing to sing the national anthem in their first Asian Cup match.
The Athletic reported earlier on monday that urgent talks had been taking place between FIFA, the Asian Football Confederation, which organizes the tournament, and the Australian government about whether it was possible to extend the Iranian team’s stay in the country for their own safety.
Although the trip was expected to be complex due to airspace restrictions in the Middle East, the Iranian team was due to leave the Gold Coast on Monday, having played its final match against the Philippines on Sunday.
Iran has been competing in the Women’s Asian Cup in Australia since before the latest escalation of the war in the Middle East, coming immediately before Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was assassinated by a joint US-Israeli mission on February 28.
The team did not sing the national anthem in its opening match against South Korea on March 2, in what appeared to be a protest against the Iranian regime. The men’s team did the same before the opening game of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The women’s team sang the anthem and performed a military salute in the next two games, losses to Australia and the Philippines.
The Iranian team saluted and sang the anthem in their second and third matches of the Asian Cup group stage (Albert Perez/Getty Images)
“Let me say just one thing: traitors in times of war must be treated more severely,” presenter Mohammad Reza Shahbazi said on state television in footage verified by The Athletic. “Anyone who takes a step against the country under conditions of war must be treated more severely.
“Like that thing about our women’s soccer team not singing the national anthem, and that photo that was published and so on, which I won’t go into. These people need to be treated more severely.”
Sources added that fears over the team’s safety have led to discussions at government level over the weekend, with FIFA and the AFC contributing to the talks.
The AFP had no comment when contacted by The Athletic. FIFA, the Iranian Football Federation, the Australian government and the AFC have also been contacted.