Five Iranian women's soccer players granted humanitarian visas in AustraliaAustralia grants asylum to Iranian women's soccer players amid international attentionBy Praveen Menon and Katharine JacksonSYDNEY/WASHINGTON, March 10 (Reuters) - Australia on Tuesday granted humanitarian visas to five Iranian women soccer players after they sought asylum, fearing persecution on their return home for their refusal to sing the national anthem at an Asia Cup match. Albanese said help was also available to the other players currently in Australia with the Iranian national team, but it was up to them to accept. Television footage showed several other Iranian players leaving their hotel in the northeastern city of Gold Coast on a bus on Tuesday afternoon. Iranian media quoted Farideh Shojaei, vice president for women's affairs at the Iranian Football Federation, as saying the team had left the hotel through the back door with the police. Australia's precedent for humanitarian visas in sportsAustralia granted emergency humanitarian visas to over 20 members of the Afghanistan women's cricket team after the Taliban returned to power in 2021 and banned women's sport.

Source: The Guardian March 09, 2026 21:26 UTC