{"id":545678,"date":"2026-03-17T07:02:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T07:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/545678\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T07:02:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T07:02:12","slug":"two-remaining-iranian-soccer-players-begin-training-with-brisbane-roar-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/545678\/","title":{"rendered":"Two remaining Iranian soccer players begin training with Brisbane Roar"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Matthew<\/p>\n

Updated March 17, 2026 \u2014 11:45am,first published 11:44am<\/p>\n

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The two remaining Iranian women\u2019s soccer players in Australia<\/a> have begun training with the Brisbane Roar, suggesting they are committed to starting a new life while their fellow former teammates return to Iran.<\/p>\n

The A-League Women\u2019s Team announced the two players \u2013 Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramezanisadeh \u2013 had been introduced to the squad on Monday and posted photos of them training on Instagram.<\/p>\n

\"IranianIranian women\u2019s football player Fatemeh Pasandideh in action training with the Brisbane Roar women\u2019s squad.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, Brisbane Roar officially welcomed both players to the club\u2019s training facilities to take part in training with our A-League Women squad and we remain committed to providing a supportive environment for them whilst they navigate the next stages,\u201d Brisbane Roar chief executive Kaz Patafta said.<\/p>\n

Ramezanisadeh, 33, responded on Instagram saying: \u201cThank you for everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Five of the seven Iranian women who sought asylum in Australia last week later changed their mind and decided to return to Iran via Malaysia.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Iranian<\/a><\/p>\n

The saga has taken on geopolitical ramifications, with the regime in Tehran celebrating the five players\u2019 decision to return home and abandon their asylum bids as a propaganda victory.<\/p>\n

Pasandideh, 21, on Monday afternoon posted a smiling photograph on Instagram<\/a> at the Brisbane waterfront with a peace sign emoji and the caption \u201ceverything will be fine\u201d. She was photographed alongside Jill Ellis, FIFA\u2019s head of football.<\/p>\n

Other members of the Iranian team departed Malaysia on a flight bound for Oman on Monday night.<\/p>\n

Asian Football Confederation general secretary Windsor John said he was not aware of the team\u2019s travel plans after Oman.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have spoken to the team officials. We have spoken to the coaches, the head of delegation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are actually in high spirits. They are not demotivated or they didn\u2019t look afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kylie Moore Gilbert, who was detained for 804 days in Iran on false espionage charges, questioned why Iranian embassy officials in Australia had reportedly been able to contact the players in Australia, presumably to pressure them to return to Iran.<\/p>\n

\u201cDidn\u2019t Australia essentially kick out all officials within the Iranian embassy in Canberra, including the ambassador, last year with the exception of [two] or [three] junior staff responsible for visa processing?\u201d she asked in a post on X.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf these \u2018junior visa processing officials\u2019 are undertaking coercion on behalf of the Islamic Republic here in Australian soil, shouldn\u2019t we kick them out too?\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Minister<\/a><\/p>\n

Three more members of the delegation changed their minds and decided to return to Iran on Saturday night, followed on Sunday by captain Ghanbari, who is joining her fellow players in Malaysia.<\/p>\n

Shiva Amini, a former Iranian soccer player, claimed in a post on X that \u201cthe Iranian Football Federation, working with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard IRGC, has placed intense and systematic pressure on the players\u2019 families in Iran\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have even targeted the family of Zahra Ghanbari,\u201d Amini said.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite the fact that she has just lost her father, authorities are putting pressure on her mother. This shows the level of cruelty and desperation they are willing to use to force these athletes to comply.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"MatthewMatthew Knott<\/a> is the foreign affairs and national security correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X<\/a>, Facebook<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated March 17, 2026 \u2014 11:45am,first published 11:44am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":545557,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-545678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=545678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/545557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=545678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=545678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=545678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}