Australia was facing mounting calls on Monday to help the members of Iran’s national women’s soccer team, after Iranian state media referred to them as “traitors” for not singing the national anthem during a tournament in Australia.
The 26-member squad is expected to return home after playing its final game of the women’s Asian Cup on Sunday night, but members of the Iranian diaspora, sports officials and Australian politicians are concerned that their safety could be at risk when they arrive in Iran. It was not immediately clear when they were scheduled to depart Australia.
Worries for the team arose last week during its first match of the tournament. Players remained silent during the national anthem in an apparent protest against the Iranian government, prompting a commentator on Iranian state television to call for their punishment.
“They can only talk with silence. It was a dismissal of the regime,” said Tina Kordrostami, a local councilor in the Sydney area who said she had been in contact with some of the players. She called the silent protest “one of the most courageous things I’ve seen.”
President Trump said on social media that Australia, whose government has declined to comment on the players’ situation, was making a “terrible humanitarian mistake” by letting the team “be forced back to Iran,” and called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to offer asylum to the team. “The U.S. will take them if you don’t,” he added.
Earlier Monday, Reza Pahlavi, an exiled son of the deposed Iranian shah, said on social media that the women had engaged in a “brave act of civil disobedience” and warned that they would face “dire consequences” upon returning home. He urged the Australian government to “ensure their safety and give them any and all needed support.”
FIFPro, a global soccer players’ union, also expressed concern for the women’s safety and called on the sport’s governing bodies to engage with the Australian government to make sure “every effort is made to protect the safety of the players.”
Australia’s department of home affairs declined to comment, saying it could not address individual cases because of privacy. Asked about the team, Foreign Minister Penny Wong expressed “solidarity” with Iran’s women and girls, but also said she could not comment on the players’ situation.
The team left Iran for the tournament a few days before U.S.-Israeli strikes began on Feb. 28, according to the Tehran Times.
As the tournament progressed, the players were secluded and efforts by Iranian community groups, players’ unions and sports organizations to get in contact with them were unsuccessful, said Craig Foster, a human rights advocate and a former captain of Australia’s national soccer team.
“It is clear they are being silenced and coerced,” said Mr. Foster, who was involved in past campaigns to help the Afghan women’s national soccer team flee Taliban rule and resettle in Australia. In that instance, Australia provided emergency humanitarian visas to the women and their families.
The safety of the Iranian players is ultimately the responsibility of the Asian Football Confederation, which organized the tournament, and soccer’s governing body, FIFA, Mr. Foster said.
Ms. Kordrostami, the local councilor, said she was in the lobby of the hotel where the players were staying Monday evening and had spoken to one of the members of the team, who said her teammates were all terrified, particularly for the safety of their family members back home.
After staying silent during the anthem for their first match, the team sang the anthem for their second and third games, which the players said they had done because of government pressure, Ms. Kordrostami said.
“Obviously, since they got intimidated so harshly, they’re more scared,” she said. “They were born and raised in a country that removed any notion of having a choice for them.”
Victoria Kim is the Australia correspondent for The New York Times, based in Sydney, covering Australia, New Zealand and the broader Pacific region.
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