Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inboxIran's women's national football team have arrived back in their country on March 18 after a long journey home via Malaysia, Oman and Turkey. – Iranian authorities gave the national women’s football team a heroine’s welcome on March 19 after their return to the Islamic republic from Australia, where some had made and then withdrawn asylum claims amid accusations Iran had pressured their families. Flanked by the team members, Iranian football federation president Mehdi Taj said on the stage that “what is certain is that these athletes are loyal to the homeland, flag, leader and revolution”. “Fortunately, the members of our team valued their national identity above all else and turned these offers down,” she told Iranian media. A report on the Fars News Agency cited “an informed source within the national team” as saying Azmoun had been expelled from the squad.

Source: BBC March 20, 2026 16:00 UTC