MELBOURNE, Australia (Associated Press)— A fifth member of the Iranian women’s soccer team who accepted a refugee visa to stay in Australia has left the country, the Australian government said on Monday.
The player’s departure shortly before midnight on Sunday leaves two of an initial seven squad members in Australia, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke’s office said.
The Iranian authorities have welcomed the women’s change of heart as a victory against Australia and U.S. President Donald Trump. The Iranian diaspora in Australia blame pressure from Tehran.
Burke reported on Sunday that two players and a team support staff member had left Sydney for Malaysia on Saturday.
Iran’s team arrived in Australia for the Women’s Asian Cup last month, before the war in the Middle East began on Feb. 28.
Initially, six players and a support staff member from a squad list of 26 players accepted humanitarian visas to stay in Australia before the rest of the Iranian contingent flew from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur on March 10.
Another later changed her mind and left Australia.
The rest of the team has remained in Kuala Lumpur since they left Australia.
Assistant Immigration Minister Matt Thistlethwaite described the women’s plight in Australia as a “very complex situation.”
“We’ve been working very, very closely with them, but obviously this is a very complex situation. These are deeply personal decisions, and the government respects the decisions of those that have chosen to return. And we continue to offer support to the two that are remaining,” Thistlethwaite told Sky News television.
“They’re being given all the support of the Australian government and indeed the diaspora community to remain here and settle in Australia,” he added.
Kylie Moore-Gilbert, a political scientist at Sydney’s Macquarie University who spent more than two years in Iranian prisons on spying charges from 2018 to 2020, said “winning the propaganda war” had overshadowed the women’s welfare.
