Iranian women’s football team: Zahra Ghanbari withdraws Australian asylum bid as pressure claims grow

The captain of Iran’s women’s national football team has withdrawn her request for asylum in Australia, marking the fifth member of the squad to reverse course after initially accepting humanitarian visas.

Iranian state media reported on Sunday that Zahra Ghanbari would travel from Malaysia back to Iran, marking the latest twist that has unfolded since the team arrived in Australia for the Women’s Asian Cup.

Australian authorities confirmed on Saturday that three other members of the delegation had also abandoned their asylum applications. Of the seven players and staff originally granted humanitarian visas, only two remain in Australia.

The players had initially sought sanctuary after fears they could face repercussions at home following their silent protest during Iran’s national anthem at the tournament’s opening match.

Human rights advocates claim mounting pressure from Iranian authorities may have influenced the players’ decisions to withdraw their applications.

Shiva Amini, a former Iranian national futsal player living in exile, said she had received information that Iran’s Football Federation, working with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), had “placed intense and systemic pressure on the players’ families in Iran”.

“Several of the players decided to go back because the threats against their families became unbearable and the intimidation was relentless,” she wrote on X on Sunday.

Tina Kordrostami, a councillor for the Australian city of Ryde, had a similar claim, saying the players were being “heavily intimidated” by Tehran, suggesting their families were being used as leverage to get them back home.

“I know families have even been detained. I know family members are missing,” Ms Kordrostami told Fox News.

“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.

Iranian state media framed Ms Ghanbari’s decision as an act of loyalty.

The official IRNA news agency said she was “returning to the embrace of the homeland”, while the semi-official Mehr news agency described the move as a “patriotic decision”.

It also claimed the players had resisted “psychological warfare, extensive propaganda and seductive offers” during their time in Australia.

Australian officials have not yet commented on Ms Ghanbari’s withdrawal.

Three other members of the delegation who were identified by activists in the Iranian diaspora as Zahra Soltan Meshkehkar, Mona Hamoudi and Zahra Sarbali withdrew their asylum bids on Saturday.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the government had ensured the players were offered protection and given the chance to build a safe future in Australia.

The controversy first erupted after the Iranian team declined to sing the national anthem during their opening Asian Cup match against South Korea on March 2, a gesture widely interpreted as a protest.

In Iran, the move triggered outrage among some commentators who branded the players “wartime traitors” and demanded harsh punishment.

The team sang the anthem in their following matches before being eliminated from the tournament, prompting speculation they had been instructed to do so by officials travelling with the squad.

Most of the team left Australia on March 10, two days after their Asian Cup campaign ended.

The dispute has played out amid heightened tensions in the Middle East following US-Israeli strikes on Iran and retaliatory attacks across the region.

With AAP