Donald Trump has asked the Australian Government to grant asylum to the Iranian women’s soccer team, which participated in the Asian Cup. The American president has warned that if the Australian country does not intercede, Washington will receive sports wings.
“Australia is making a terrible humanitarian mistake by allowing the Iranian women’s national soccer team to be forced to return to Iran, where they will most likely be murdered. Don’t do it, Mr. Prime Minister, grant them asylum,” Trump said in a message on his Truth Social network addressed to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Shortly after, the White House leader announced in a second publication that he had spoken with the minister: “He is taking care of it! Five have already been treated and the rest are on the way,” he said in reference to five players who would have requested refuge in the Australian nation.
However, Trump says, some believe that “they should return because they are concerned about the safety of their families, including threats against their families if they do not return. In any case, the prime minister is doing a very good job in this very delicate situation. God bless Australia!”
Even so, there is no evidence that Albanese nor the head of Immigration, Tony Burke, have commented directly on this issue. We only know what President Trump has detailed so far.
Five players refuse to sing the Iranian anthem
Fatemé Pasandidé, Zahra Ghanbari, Zahra Sarbali, Atefé Ramazanzadé and Mona Hamudi refused to sing the Iranian anthem during a match against South Korea on March 2 in the Women’s Asian Cup.
The players were branded “traitors” on Iranian state television, so there was growing concern that they would suffer reprisals upon returning to their country. In this context, the Australian public television network ABC reported this Monday that the five soccer players plan to request asylum in Australia after placing themselves under the protection of the Queensland police.
For his part, the Anti-Slavery Commissioner of New South Wales, James Cockayne, has requested that possible crimes of modern slavery be urgently investigated in relation to the rest of the players on the team, since he claims they are being forced to return to Iran, for which he has asked to start a process to grant visas to those affected in a letter to the Australian authorities.
