Players on the Iranian women’s football team have sung and saluted during their national anthem before their final Women’s Asian Cup match at Gold Coast Stadium in Australia, six days after their decision to remain silent during the anthem saw them labelled “wartime traitors” on state TV back home.
The Iranians, whose situation has become a cause celebre among human rights campaigners in Australia, will play no further part in the tournament after a 2-0 loss on Sunday to the Philippines in Queensland.
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Their campaign in the continental showpiece started last weekend, just as the United States and Israel launched air strikes on Iran on February 28, killing at least 1,332 people since then, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Iran’s team and management, who have voiced fears and concerns for their families in Iran, wore a stoic look and chose not to sing their national anthem in the opening game against South Korea on Monday.
Their decision drew criticism in Iran with Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting presenter Mohammad Reza Shahbazi saying in a video that the players showed a lack of patriotism and their actions amounted to the “pinnacle of dishonour”.
The Iranian team sang along to Mehr-e Khavaran (Eastern Sun) before their second defeat against the host nation on Thursday, sparking fears among Australian human rights campaigners that they had been coerced by government minders.
No public reason was given for the players’ original stance over the pregame national anthem.
‘Credible fears for safety’
A petition launched on Friday on the Change.org website urging Australia to give refuge to the team had gathered more than 51,000 signatures by late on Sunday. The petition called on Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to ensure the team did not depart Australia “while credible fears for their safety remain” but Burke’s office has not commented on the petition.
The petition asked local authorities to ensure any player seeking protection “can do so safely, privately, and without interference” and to “make clear that Australia will uphold its … humanitarian protection obligations in relation to any player at risk of persecution or serious harm”.
“Where credible evidence exists that visiting athletes may face persecution, imprisonment, coercion, or worse upon return, silence is not a neutral position,” it said. “The current wartime environment has intensified repression, fear, and the risks faced by anyone publicly perceived by the Islamic Republic as disloyal.”
Iranian Australian activist Tina Kordrostami, a member of local government in Sydney’s Ryde Council, told The Australian newspaper the Iranian players “need an opportunity, a safe space, a chance to actually speak up about what their needs are and what their requirements are”.
“We can’t give them that space without the government helping us,” she said.
Speaking to national broadcaster ABC before Sunday’s game, Foreign Minister Penny Wong was asked about the prospect of the team going home.
“I want to say about the Iranian women’s team that it has been really moving for Australians to see them in Australia,” she said.
Wong added that the sight of the Australian players swapping shirts with their Iranian opponents was “a very evocative moment”.
“It spoke to solidarity and the way in which sport can bring us together,” she said.
“We know this regime has brutally oppressed many Iranian women. Obviously, this is a regime that we know has brutally cracked down on its people.”
The US and Israel continued their large-scale strikes on Iran for a ninth day as the conflict has widened to include the Gulf region as well as Lebanon and Iraq.
The players union FIFPRO had previously called on the Asian Football Confederation and global football’s governing body, FIFA, to uphold their human rights obligations and undertake all necessary steps to ensure the safety of Iran’s squad in the wake of the broadcast.
Iran’s team ended their campaign winless, also losing 3-0 to South Korea and 4-0 to Australia to finish bottom of Group A with nine goals conceded and none scored.
Matildas snatch late draw with South Korea
Australia’s Alanna Kennedy scored her second goal deep into stoppage time to achieve a 3-3 draw against South Korea, but it was not enough to prevent their opponents from topping Group A.
The South Koreans, who sealed the top spot by virtue of their superior goal tally over the three group fixtures, will return to Stadium Australia in Sydney on Saturday for a quarterfinal against a third-placed team from one of the other opening-round groups.
The Matildas, meanwhile, will have to travel across Australia to play either North Korea or reigning champions China in the last eight at Perth Rectangular Stadium on Friday.
