Iranian Women Football Team Escape From Hotel Aided By Australian Police.

Queensland, Australia; March 2026: Australian police managed to evacuate 05 Iranian women soccer players from the ​team’s hotel before they were granted asylum, the interior minister said today, as details of their ‌escape from Iranian government minders emerged.

In a very important development, the Albanese led Australian Government has awarded humanitarian visas to these 05 Iranian Football Players just a few while ago (IST), after they sought asylum fearing persecution in their home nation. The announcement came after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had ​spoken to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese about the Iran women’s soccer team in Australia following reports that the players had requested asylum. The remaining players are in a hotel ‌on the Gold Coast. Albanese said help is available to the other players but it was up to them to accept.

The 05 ​players those who have been granted asylum are Ghanbari, Zahra Sarbali Alishah, Mona Hamoudi and Atefeh Ramezanizadeh, all in their early 30s as well ​as 21 years old Fatemeh Pasandideh.

“Australians have been moved by the plight of these brave women”, Albanese told a news conference in Canberra today. “They’re safe here, and they should feel at home here”. The Iranian women’s soccer team are in Australia for the Asian Cup tournament.

Having initially posted on social media that Australia was “making a terrible humanitarian mistake” by allowing the team to be sent back home, Trump ​said in a later post that he had spoken to Albanese and that the Australian leader was “doing a very good job having to do with this ⁠rather delicate situation”. In his earlier post Trump said members of the team would “likely be killed” if forced to return to Iran. “The U.S. will ​take them if you won’t”, he added. Albanese said Trump rang him just before 02:00 hours (1500 GMT Monday).

“I was able to convey to him the action that we’d undertaken over the previous 48 hours, and that five of the team had asked for assistance and had received it and were safely located”, Albanese said.

The Iranian women’s soccer team’s campaign in the Australian-hosted Asian Cup tournament started just as the U.S. and Israel launched air strikes on Iran, killing the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. ​They were eliminated from the tournament on Sunday after losing 2-0 to the Philippines.

The five players, including team captain Zahra Ghanbari, sought protection after the team were branded “wartime traitors” for refusing to sing their national anthem before an Asian Cup match. An Iranian state television ​presenter has labelled the women’s national soccer team as “wartime traitors” after the players ‌did not sing their national anthem before the Asian Cup game against South Korea in Australia.

Their players stood in ​silence when Iran’s anthem was played before their 3-0 loss to South Korea ⁠on Monday, though they sang and saluted before a 4-0 defeat by hosts Australia three ​days later. Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting presenter Mohammad Reza Shahbazi said in a video that the ​players showed a lack of patriotism and their actions amounted to the “pinnacle of dishonour” in footage circulating widely on social media.

“Let me just say one thing: traitors during wartime must be dealt with more severely”, Shahbazi ​said.

“Anyone who takes a step against the country under war conditions must be dealt with ​more severely. Like this matter of our women’s football team not singing the national anthem these people must ‌be dealt ⁠with more severely”.

Meanwhile, Players union FIFPRO called on the AFC and FIFA to uphold their human rights obligations and undertake all necessary steps to ensure the safety ​of Iran’s squad after ​Shahbazi’s comments.

“These statements significantly ⁠heighten concerns for the players’ safety should they return to Iran after the tournament”, FIFPRO Asia/Oceania said. “We call on the AFC and FIFA ​to urgently engage with the Iranian Football Association, the Australian Government and ​all other ⁠relevant authorities to ensure that every effort is made to protect the safety of the players”.

Once immigration ​officials completed the processing of the women’s humanitarian visas around 01:30 hours today (15:30 GMT Monday), celebrations broke out among those present. “Once everything had been ‌signed ⁠off last night, there were lots of photos, lots of celebrating, and then a spontaneous outcry of ‘Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi’”, Burke said.

“These women are great athletes, great people, and they’re going to feel very much at home in Australia”.

Four of the players are teammates at the Bam Khatoon club, which has won the Iranian women’s championship ​a record 11 times and ​is where Ghanbari also ⁠played until she moved to Persepolis for this season.

Captain Ghanbari was suspended for several days in 2024 after her hijab, the head covering that all Iranian women players must wear, slipped off during a goal ​celebration in an Asian Champions League fixture.

The 33-year-old striker, Iran’s record international goal scorer in ​the women’s ⁠game, was allowed to return to play only after she and Bam Khatoon issued apologies.

Ghanbari’s head scarf also slipped off her head several times during Iran’s final Asian Cup match against the Philippines on Sunday, when defeat ended their participation ⁠in the ​tournament.

Burke said the offer of asylum remained open for the other 21 ​members of the squad who were still at the Gold Coast hotel, though he said it was likely some would return home to Iran. “These ​women have been weighing up an incredibly difficult decision”, he said.

Team Maverick.