Iranian women’s football team member changes mind on asylum in Australia
Sydney: An Iranian women’s football team member who sought sanctuary in Australia has changed her mind after speaking with teammates, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Wednesday.Seven members of Iran’s visiting women’s football team had claimed asylum in Australia after they were branded “traitors” at home over a pre-match protest.One player and one support member sought sanctuary before the side flew out of Sydney to Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday evening in emotional scenes, joining five other athletes who had already claimed asylum.Burke said in parliament on Wednesday that he had since been advised one of the group “had spoken to some of the team mates that left and changed their mind.”“She had been advised by her team mates and encouraged to contact the Iranian embassy,” he said.“As a result of that it meant the Iranian embassy now knew the location of where everybody was.”The remaining players have been moved from a safe house to another location, he said.The traveling squad arrived in Malaysia early Wednesday morning after flying out from Sydney, AFP photos at Kuala Lumpur International Airport showed.There were fears male minders traveling with the team might try to prevent other women seeking asylum.Burke said each player was separated from the squad at Sydney Airport and given time to mull the offer in private.Australian officials had “made sure this was her decision” he said, referring to the Iran team member who had changed her mind.INDIAN WELLS, United States: World number one Aryna Sabalenka powered into the Indian Wells quarter-finals on Tuesday, beating former champion Naomi Osaka 6-2, 6-4 in a battle of Grand Slam winners.It was another straightforward, straight-sets victory for Sabalenka, who fired 31 winners with eight aces.“Overall I’m happy that I put so much pressure on her, that I brought variety today on the court,” said Sabalenka, who mixed her booming groundstrokes with effective forays to the net.“I think she was a little confused in the key moments, and I’m happy to see that,” Sabalenka said. “I’m happy that my serve worked well, on the return I played really great tennis.”Sabalenka wrapped up the first set with two breaks of serve before Osaka began to find her rhythm.But the Japanese star was unable to crack the serve of Sabalenka, who saved both break points she faced in the second set and grabbed a break for 4-3 with a pair of forehand winners.It was just the second meeting between the two, both four-time Grand Slam champions.Osaka won the first back in 2018 on the way to her first major title at the US Open.“That’s actually crazy,” Sabalenka said of the fact they haven’t met more often. But she predicted there were more clashes in their future as Osaka, now ranked 16th, regains her momentum on the WTA Tour after taking off all of 2023 and having daughter, Shai, in July of that year.Sabalenka, runner-up at Indian Wells in 2023 and 2025, will continue her pursuit of a first title in the prestigious ATP and WTA Masters 1000 event against either sixth-seeded American Amanda Anisimova or 10th-seeded Canadian teen Victoria Mboko.Australian qualifier Talia Gibson’s dream run in the California desert continued with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-1 victory over seventh-ranked Italian Jasmine Paolini.The 21-year-old’s first victory over a top-10 player propelled her into her first WTA quarter-final, where she’ll face either Czech Linda Noskova or Alexandra Eala of the Philippines.Gibson, ranked 112th, used a late break to pocket the first set, closing it out with her 18th winner of the opening frame.Paolini sped to a 3-0 lead in the second as Gibson’s errors mounted and it looked as if the experienced Italian, a two-time Grand Slam finalist, had seized control.But Gibson unleashed a barrage of winners in the third, including a stinging forehand service return on match point.“Honestly, just completely speechless,” said Gibson, who beat top-20 players Ekaterina Alexandrova and Clara Tauson on the way to the fourth round.
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