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<\/p>\nMultiple Iranian female soccer players have sought protection in Australia amid chaotic scenes on the Gold Coast that plunged the hotel where the team was staying into lockdown.<\/p>\n
Five players are now under the protection of Australian Federal Police.<\/p>\n
News.com.au understands that the Department of Home Affairs is now processing the claims after secret talks with the players after Sunday night\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
Chaotic scenes erupted in the lobby of the Gold Coast hotel around 6pm on Monday while talks were continuing, when minders linked to the Islamic Republic ran into the area looking for the women.<\/p>\n
Supporters filming the incident claim that five female players had escaped the hotel and minders linked to the Islamic regime were looking for them.<\/p>\n
What happens next?<\/p>\n
Just four years ago Australia assisted the Afghan women\u2019s national football team in escaping Afghanistan when the Taliban regained power in 2021.<\/p>\n
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke is expected to make a statement on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n
Mr Burke flew to Queensland on Monday night and is on the ground to speak to the women <\/p>\n
Athletes who seek asylum in Australia during international sporting events generally do so by applying for protection under Australia\u2019s refugee system. <\/p>\n
Theoretically, they can lodge an application for a Protection Visa under the Migration Act 1958 if they fear returning to their home country.<\/p>\n
To qualify, applicants must demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution based on factors such as political opinion, race, religion, nationality or membership of a particular social group. <\/p>\n
Some may also qualify for protection if they face a real risk of serious harm, including torture, the death penalty or other cruel treatment.<\/p>\n
Once an application is lodged, the individual is usually granted a bridging visa, allowing them to remain in Australia while the Department of Home Affairs assesses their claim. <\/p>\n
Australia has experienced several high-profile cases of athletes seeking asylum while attending international sporting events. <\/p>\n
One of the earliest and most significant occurred during the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, held shortly after the Soviet Union crushed the Hungarian uprising. <\/p>\n
In the aftermath, 61 Hungarian athletes, coaches and officials chose not to return home, making it one of the largest political defections in Olympic history and a powerful symbol of Cold War tensions.<\/p>\n
Bus protest<\/p>\n
Just 24 hours earlier, Australian protesters laid siege to a tour bus transporting Iranian female soccer players.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Around 50 protesters, some brandishing Iranian Lion flags, surrounded the bus as it left the stadium on the Gold Coast on Sunday night. shouting \u201csave our girls.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Iranian Lion and Sun (Shir-o-Khorshid) flag was used before the 1979 Islamic Revolution and is used by protesters as a symbol of resistance against the current regime.<\/p>\n
The women\u2019s team is expected to fly out of the country within the next 24 hours after suffering a 2-0 defeat against the Philippines.<\/p>\n
The defeat ends their Women\u2019s Asian Cup campaign, which was marked by controversy after they refused to sing the Iranian national anthem on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u2018Help\u2019 sign from bus<\/p>\n
Two female protesters filmed video overnight showing the moment one woman made a love heart symbol from the bus toward the protesters.<\/p>\n
That is followed by a woman on the bus appearing to make the international sign of \u201chelp\u201d from the window.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe help sign is, I think, the most concerning,\u2019\u2019 Ara Rasuli, 25, said.<\/p>\n
Another protestor, Aram, 19, said she had visited the police station on Sunday night demanding the AFP step in to speak to the players.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a clear video of one of them doing the help sign. People\u2019s life are in danger,\u2019\u2019 she told news.com.au.<\/p>\n
She said her mother had spoken to two of the players in a lift at the hotel and that they were under surveillance.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mum was in an elevator with two of the players. They told her they cannot talk,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were threats to their family in Iran. They are super scared.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of them were crying on the bus as we were chasing the bus and trying to stop it and don\u2019t let them go.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018War traitors\u2019 threat<\/p>\n
The Lionesses are understood to have been told the plan is to fly them to Turkey before sending them back into Iran on buses, as bombs rain down on Tehran.<\/p>\n
But the immediate threat is not just the war, but also to their families left behind.<\/p>\n
Concerns for the young women escalated after state-controlled Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting broadcast a clip of presenter Mohammad Reza Shahbazi calling out the players in response to their silence during the anthem on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn times of war, traitors must be dealt with more harshly. Anyone who takes even a single step against the country during wartime must face stronger consequences,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Foreign Minister Penny Wong declared on Sunday that Australia \u201cstands in solidarity\u201d with the Iranian women\u2019s soccer team amid fears the women could be jailed or killed if they return to their country.<\/p>\n
Thousands of Australians are urging the Albanese Government to act to protect the Lionesses players as they played their last game on the Gold Coast.<\/p>\n
The women\u2019s team saluted and mouthed the Iranian national anthem ahead of Sunday night\u2019s match after an international furore over their failure to do so in an earlier match.<\/p>\n
In a petition on Change.org, there are calls for urgent protection for the women who face an \u201cimpossible situation\u201d \u2013 return to a war zone where they have been accused of being \u201ctraitors\u201d or risk danger for their families at home if they stay.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese concerns are immediate and serious. In their opening match, members of the team reportedly remained silent during the Iranian national anthem,\u2019\u2019 the petition states.<\/p>\n
\u201cCredible reporting has also raised concerns that regime-connected personnel are embedded with the delegation, that players are not allowed to move freely, and that their communications are restricted.\u201d<\/p>\n
The petition asks Australia to ensure that any player wishing to seek protection can do so safely, privately, and without interference from regime-associated officials or handlers.<\/p>\n
\u201cAustralia is hosting this tournament. That carries not only logistical responsibilities, but moral ones,\u2019\u2019 the signatories warn.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a moment for principled leadership. These players should not be let to go back into danger because they displayed conscience, dignity, or fear in public view.\u201d<\/p>\n
Solidarity call<\/p>\n
Foreign Minister Penny Wong told the ABC\u2019s Insiders she \u201cstood in solidarity\u201d with the men and women of Iran.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been really moving for Australians to see them in Australia and the Matildas swapping jerseys with them was, I think, a very evocative moment. It spoke to solidarity and the way in which sport can bring us together,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know this regime has brutally murdered many of its own people. We know this regime has brutally oppressed many Iranian women and we stand in solidarity with the men and women of Iran, particularly Iranian women and girls.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to get into commentary about the Iranian women\u2019s team.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Don\u2019t discuss\u2019: Tight-lipped on Iran team approach<\/p>\n
Speaking on Sky News, Assistant Foreign Affairs spokesman Matt Thistlewaite refused to say if Australia had already been approached by any female players for help.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been great to see the Iranian women\u2019s team participating in the Asian Cup,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t go into individual circumstances for privacy reasons.<\/p>\n
Asked, \u201cAre you concerned they might be in trouble if they go home?\u201d Mr Thistlewaite offered a cautious response.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want to make any comments that might prejudice any decisions later on, so we don\u2019t discuss,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
Players killed by regime<\/p>\n
The team has already lost one national player, Zahra Azadpour, 27, who was gunned down by Islamic Republic forces in January while protesting in Karaj, in north central Iran.<\/p>\n
Another, a 23-year-old female football referee Sabha Rashtian, was shot dead while protesting in Isfahan.<\/p>\n
Iran International TV sports journalist Raha Pourbakhsh said the women were under duress from the regime while travelling in Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have threatened them with their careers being ended and also jail time,\u201d Pourbakhsh told The Sports Ambassador podcast.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir phones have been tapped, they forced the players into signing hefty bail agreements assuring the authorities they would not become refugees in Australia, they will not apply for asylum.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have also been told that they must sing along to the national anthem and also to show joy and happiness if they score a goal to show that everything is normal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sources close to the team have told international media outlets that seeking asylum in Australia is not an option for most players, with because their families are under threat in Iran.<\/p>\n
Clear mandate to act<\/p>\n
Iranian-Australian human rights activist Tina Kordostrami told news.com.au that FIFA, the sport\u2019s governing body, had a clear mandate to act.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe players have visas until the end of March. They don\u2019t have to leave Sunday,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe regime is clearly controlling these girls. FIFA has a responsibility here. That\u2019s within their own protocols.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Australian government needs to find some sort of safe space so they can talk to people. Their phones are tapped.\u201d<\/p>\n
Calls to offer women asylum<\/p>\n
In August 2021, former Socceroos captain and human rights advocate Craig Foster played a key role in evacuating over 75 Afghan women soccer players, athletes, and their families from Kabul following the Taliban takeover.<\/p>\n
In that instance, Australia organised visas and safe passage for the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone is aware of the situation,\u201d Mr Foster told news.com.au.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe safety of every team member and their families is the most important thing. So everyone understands the sensitivity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why they didn\u2019t sing national anthem<\/p>\n
The Iranian women\u2019s national football team, nicknamed the Lionesses, sparked international headlines when they did not sing the national anthem ahead of their match against South Korea on the Gold Coast on Monday.<\/p>\n
The incident was interpreted as a silent protest against the Islamic Republic regime amid reports the women\u2019s phones are tapped and their families under threat if they claim asylum in Australia.<\/p>\n
But by Thursday night, they sang and saluted under orders from the regime at their second group stage match against hosts the Matildas.<\/p>\n
Ms Kordostrami said that a threat made on state-controlled TV in their homeland was alarming and frightening for the young women.<\/p>\n
\u201cTechnically, the AFP is able to stop someone forcefully being removed from Australia. If the girls say they don\u2019t want to leave the government can step in,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFIFA has to intervene right now. We need to break through to them.\u201d<\/p>\n