Five Iranian female footballers have been granted asylum in Australia , the country's Interior Ministry confirmed, following calls from various quarters for Canberra to intervene in light of the players' open stance against the Tehran regime during the Women's Asian Cup.
The scandal erupted during the women's national team's first match in the tournament against South Korea on March 2, immediately after the US and Israeli attacks on the Islamic Republic began. The players failed to sing the anthem, a gesture that sparked protests in their homeland.
In the next match, the players sang the national anthem and even performed a military salute: a marked change of attitude that many interpreted as the result of threats of retaliation from the Tehran regime . Talk then began of a possible asylum request from the Australian government, to avoid potential "revenge" from the regime once the players returned home.
Now comes the news that Australia has granted protection to five of them: the team captain and top scorers Zahra Ghanbari and Zahra Sarbali, Fatemeh Pasandideh, Atefeh Ramezanizadeh and Mona Hamoudi, who managed to escape from the hotel where the
team and ask for help from the authorities.
“They are welcome in Australia, they are safe and they should feel at home,” said Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke.
(Unioneonline)
