Zahra Ghanbari withdraws Australia asylum request, becomes second Iran women’s player | OneFootball

According to Iranian media, captain Zahra Ghanbari has become the second Iran women’s player to withdraw her asylum request in Australia. Seven squad members had initially been granted asylum in Australia.

After the Iran v South Korea match at the Women’s Asian Cup, several Iran players had refused to sing the national anthem in protest at the Islamic regime still in place in Iran. The host nation, Australia, then offered the squad political asylum, as announced by Donald Trump, to prevent a return to Tehran.

State television in Iran branded the players wartime traitors and said their actions represented the height of dishonour.

Initially five, then six players, including Ghanbari, and a staff member left the team hotel and asked the Australian government to let them stay.

On 11 March, the first player to reverse course reportedly shared the location of a protected residence with the Iranian embassy, forcing the others to evacuate.

The rest of the squad arrived early Wednesday in Kuala Lumpur, waiting to resume their journey to Iran, which has been hard to access because of bombardments by the United States and Israel on the country.

Source: L'Équipe