{"id":512157,"date":"2026-03-09T02:24:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T02:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/512157\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T02:24:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T02:24:08","slug":"iran-team-exits-womens-asian-cup-and-faces-a-return-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/512157\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran team exits Women’s Asian Cup and faces a return home"},"content":{"rendered":"

GOLD COAST, Australia (AP) \u2014 Iran\u2019s soccer team lost its last group match at the Women\u2019s Asian Cup on Sunday and had to contemplate returning home to a country embroiled in war.<\/p>\n

The Iranian women\u2019s squad arrived in Australia for the continental championship last month, before the war that began with the U.S. and Israel Feb. 28 strikes on Iran.<\/a> Teams ousted during the group stage usually leave within days but organizers have not announced details for the departure of the Iran delegation.<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s national news agency quoted Iran\u2019s head coach Marziyeh Jafari saying the squad \u201cwant to come back to Iran as soon as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be with my country and home … We are eager to come back,\u201d AAP quoted Jafari as telling a post-match news conference.<\/p>\n

Their silence during the anthem<\/a> before an opening loss to South Korea last Monday was viewed by some as an act of resistance and others as a show of mourning. The team hasn\u2019t clarified. But the players sang the anthem and saluted during the national anthem<\/a> ahead of their 4-0 loss to Australia last Thursday and a 2-0 loss to Philippines on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Amid concerns for player welfare following reported criticism in the Iranian media, the Australian Iranian Council wrote to Australia\u2019s Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke urging the government to protect the squad members while they\u2019re in Australia.<\/p>\n

It launched an online petition, which had more than 50,000 electronic signatures before kick-off Sunday, urging Australian authorities to \u201censure that no member of Iran\u2019s women\u2019s national football team is to depart Australia while credible fears for their safety remain\u201d and also to provide independent legal advice, support and interpreters.<\/p>\n

Iran team management and players have mostly declined to comment on the situation at home during more than a week preparing for and playing games on Australia\u2019s Gold Coast, although Iran forward Sara Didar choked back tears<\/a> in a news conference last Wednesday as she shared their concerns for their families, friends and all Iranians during the conflict.<\/p>\n

The Australian Associated Press reported late Sunday that dozens of protestors chanting \u201clet them go\u201d slowed down the team bus as it departed the stadium after the match. Video appearing online early Monday showed protestors chanting \u201csave our girls\u201d as Australian police and security cleared the way for the team bus to leave the stadium.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s team has no further official scheduled training or appearances in the tournament, which concludes with a final on March 21.<\/p>\n

The Australian Iranian Council\u2019s online petition asked local authorities to ensure any player seeking protection \u201ccan do so safely, privately, and without interference\u201d and to \u201cmake clear that Australia will uphold its \u2026 humanitarian protection obligations in relation to any player at risk of persecution or serious harm.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere credible evidence exists that visiting athletes may face persecution, imprisonment, coercion, or worse upon return, silence is not a neutral position,\u201d it said. \u201cThe current wartime environment has intensified repression, fear, and the risks faced by anyone publicly perceived by the Islamic Republic as disloyal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Foreign Minister Penny Wong declined to comment on whether the Australian government had made contact with individuals but told domestic media Australia stood in solidarity with the Iranian women\u2019s team.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been really moving for Australians to see them in Australia, and (Australia\u2019s women\u2019s team) swapping jerseys with them was a very evocative moment,\u201d Wong told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Sunday. \u201cWe know this regime has brutally oppressed many Iranian women.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iranian Australian activist Tina Kordrostami, a local government member in Sydney\u2019s Ryde Council, told The Australian newspaper the Iranian players \u201cneed an opportunity, a safe space, a chance to actually speak up about what their needs are and what their requirements are.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t give them that space without the government helping us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The Iranian women\u2019s team needed to beat Philippines to maintain any chance of advancing to the Asian Cup quarterfinals, which would have extended its stay in Australia for more than another week.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP soccer: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/soccer<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GOLD COAST, Australia (AP) \u2014 Iran\u2019s soccer team lost its last group match at the Women\u2019s Asian Cup…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":512158,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[232237,232234,1246,793,801,228242,232235,232236,403,99,232238,214457,1765,25450,965],"class_list":{"0":"post-512157","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-2024-2026-mideast-wars","9":"tag-afc-asian-cup","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-general-news","12":"tag-iran","13":"tag-iran-war","14":"tag-penny-wong","15":"tag-sara-didar","16":"tag-soccer","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-tina-kordrostami","19":"tag-tony-burke","20":"tag-womens-sports","21":"tag-womens-soccer","22":"tag-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=512157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/512158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=512157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=512157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=512157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}