Iranian women's soccer team arrives in Turkey on journey home after players withdraw asylum claims

ANKARA: The Iranian women's soccer team arrived in Istanbul on Tuesday as part of their journey home from Malaysia, following the withdrawal of asylum claims by five players who had initially sought refuge in Australia.

Australia had granted humanitarian visas to six players and one support staff member after they sought asylum, citing fears of persecution should they return to Iran. Concerns over the safety of the players had emerged after several of them failed to sing the national anthem during a women's Asian Cup match earlier this month.

Five players reverse asylum decisions

Five members of the group have since changed their minds and decided to return home, with Australian media reporting the most recent withdrawal on Monday. The five players rejoined the rest of the squad in Kuala Lumpur, where the team had been staying since departing Sydney last week. Only two players remain in Australia.

Team's tournament campaign amid regional turmoil

The team's Asian Cup campaign had commenced just as the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, resulting in the assassination of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The squad was subsequently eliminated from the tournament.

The sequence of events drew significant international attention to the Iranian women's soccer team, as the intersection of sports and geopolitics placed the players' personal decisions under a global spotlight. The initial asylum requests by the seven members of the team — six players and one support staff member — had raised questions about conditions facing female athletes in Iran.

The team had travelled from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur before making their way to Istanbul on Tuesday as part of their route back to Iran. The decision by five of the asylum seekers to reverse course and rejoin their teammates marked a notable shift from their earlier stance, though the reasons behind their change of mind were not immediately detailed.

The two individuals who remain in Australia continue to hold their humanitarian visas, having chosen not to return with the rest of the group. Their current status and plans have not been publicly disclosed.

The national anthem incident during the Asian Cup had initially brought scrutiny to the team, as the failure of several players to sing along was interpreted by observers as a potential act of protest. The subsequent asylum claims further intensified the focus on the squad's situation.