A member of the Iranian women's soccer delegation has reneged on her decision to accept asylum in Australia, and in doing so, allegedly leaked the location of defecting Iranian players to the besieged country's embassy in Sydney. Those players have now been moved to a safe location, Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told parliament on Wednesday. Given those safety concerns, Australia extended asylum offers to Iranian players, five of whom accepted on Monday rather than fly back to Iran with teammates. Australia's Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke poses with Iranian women's soccer team support worker Zahra Soltan Meshkeh Kar and team player Mohaddeseh Zolfi, who were granted asylum on Tuesday. Burke has identified five players as having been granted asylum: Fatemeh Pasandideh, Zahra Ghanbari, Zahra Sarbali, Atefeh Ramazanzadeh, and Mona Hamoudi.

Source: Metro March 11, 2026 17:50 UTC