The captain of the Iranian women’s soccer team says she will return to Iran. According to IRNA News Agency, Zahra Ghanbari, 34, is on her way back to Iran — withdrawing her bid for asylum from Australia.
She is reportedly “returning to the embrace of the homeland” according to IRNA. This made her the fifth player from the team to change her mind about competing.
In an interview with Fox News, a councillor for the Australian city of Ryde suggested the player’s families were being used as leverage to get the women home.
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“I know families have even been detained. I know family members are missing,” Tina Kordrostami said.
Australia granted asylum to six players and a support staff member on the soccer team. They were in the country for the AFC Women’s Asia cup when war broke out in Iran.
The decision comes after Iranian groups in Australia and President Donald Trump urged the government to offer them protection.
The team drew global attention earlier this month when the players refused to sing Iran’s national anthem before their first match in Australia. Iranian state media later branded them “traitors,” calling the move “the pinnacle of dishonor.”
The Iranian soccer team arrived in Australia for the tournament before the Iran war began on Feb. 28. The team was knocked out of the tournament over the weekend and faced returning to a country at war.
Head Coach Marziyeh Jafari said Sunday the players “want to come back to Iran as soon as we can.”
At one point protesters tried to block a bus reportedly carrying members of the team from their hotel. Local media reported the team later boarded a flight from Gold Coast Airport.
Some of the protesters chanted “Save our girls” and “Please act now.”
“One thing I really would like for people in the West to understand is that Iranians within the country have in many ways given up on the West, and they are only relying on one another to survive this regime,” Kordrostami said. “So, when we do offer them a way out, it’s not often that easy for them to understand that it is in fact a way out. They are more so used to relying on one another and this is survival for them.”
