Three more Iranian women’s football team members head to Iran after Australia asylum bid

THREE more members of Iran’s women’s football team have changed their minds and decided to return to Iran.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke confirmed the shocking decision on Sunday morning, revealing the players no longer wished to stay in Australia.

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“Overnight, three members of the Iranian Women’s Football Team made the decision to join the rest of the team on their journey back to Iran,” Burke said in a statement.

“After telling Australian officials they had made this decision, the players were given repeated chances to talk about their options.”

Zahra Soltan Meshkehkar, Mona Hamoudi, and Zahra Sarbali were originally given humanitarian visas after concerns arose about their welfare.

The team were silent for the country’s national anthem in their opening Asia Cup match against South Korea on March 2.

This led to them being vilified back home in Iran – labelled “war traitors” in the media.

One player reportedly received a chilling voice note from her mother saying: “Don’t come [back to Iran]… they’ll kill you.”

Another message smuggled by a player’s family out of Iran to the team read: “You need to stay”.

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President Donald Trump also warned the team “will most likely be killed” if they were allowed to return to Iran.

Iran’s Sports Ministry has since publicly welcomed the players’ decision.

“The national spirit and patriotism of the Iranian women’s national football team defeated the enemy’s plans against this team,” the Ministry said in a statement.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-linked Tasnim News Agency reported the players are now en route to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where they will join up with the rest of the squad before returning home.

The outlet said the players would soon feel the “warm embrace of their families and homeland after withdrawing their asylum application in Australia”.

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It added that the women had resisted “psychological warfare, extensive propaganda and seductive offers”.

This means that, of the seven who initially said they wanted to stay in Australia, only three remain.

Hamoudi and Sarbali were both part of the dramatic escape from a Gold Coast hotel last Monday.

The pair slipped away from team minders before being taken to a safe house by the Australian Federal Police.

Meshkehkar, a member of the team’s technical staff, joined them the following day.

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The team did eventually sing the anthem in their last two games before they were eliminated on Sunday,

Critics believe they had been instructed to do so by government officials accompanying them during the tournament.

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