Published: March 10, 2026, 11:53 AM
Five members of the Iranian women’s soccer team competing in the Women’s Asian Cup in Australia have been granted humanitarian visas, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tuesday, confirming he took an early-morning call from US President about the matter.
Supporters had been urging the Australian government to offer the women refuge over fears they’d be persecuted at home in Iran for failing to sing the national anthem before their first match last Monday.
Albanese said officials had been working for some time on the matter, and the women had been moved to a safe location – an offer that had been extended to the remaining players on the team.
“We’re willing to provide assistance to other women in the team, noting that this is a very delicate situation, and it is up to them, but we say to them, if you want our help, help is here, and we will provide that,” Albanese said during Tuesday’s news conference.
Earlier, sports journalist Raha Pourbakhsh told CNN that at least seven players left the team hotel with five of those having now applied for asylum with the Australian Federal Police.
Pourbakhsh, who works for Iran International TV, told CNN that the families of three of those five players who are now safe with police had been threatened and said the whereabouts of at least two other players are unknown after they also left the team hotel.
Pourbakhsh also added that Mehdi Taj, president of the Iranian Football Federation, had his visa denied when attempting to travel to Australia to bring the team home with vice president Farideh Shojaei having to travel in his place.
In a statement on Truth Social, President Donald Trump said Monday that it would be a “terrible humanitarian mistake” if Australia allowed the team to go back to Iran and that the US would grant the Iranian players asylum if Australia did not. It comes after Trump’s administration imposed travel bans for Iranians only last year.
Trump then posted again, writing that he had spoken to Albanese and that five players had “already been taken care of” and that “the rest are on their way.”
Albanese described a “very positive discussion” with Trump during the 2 a.m. Australian time call. “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,” the Prime Minister said.
Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref dismissed the situation as “psychological warfare,” accusing Trump of interfering in the “family affairs of the Iranian nation.”
Responding to what he termed a media campaign, Aref insisted the government would guarantee the players’ security. “Iran welcomes its children with open arms,” Aref said, according to state media.
