There are urgent calls for Australia to take action before the team return to Iran but with no word from the players themselves the situation is fraught and uncertain
Their forward was once suspended when her head scarf slipped off during a goal celebration. Their youngest player is just 18. Another once worked as a personal trainer overseas. These are the women of the Iran football team, who are at the centre of an international diplomatic incident, even as the US and Israel rain missiles down on their family back home.
The team remains in a hotel on the Gold Coast, where they played their third and final match of the Women’s Asian Cup on Sunday. Their departure from Australia is imminent, even if it’s not clear whether they want to go.
They came to Australia to play football, but from here they cannot win. Fears are held for their safety if they were to return. The players were dubbed “wartime traitors” by a state-linked commentator, who called for them to be “dealt with more severely”, after they failed to sing the national anthem in their first Asian Cup game. In subsequent matches not only have the players sung – or at least mouthed the anthem’s words – they have saluted.
Were they to stay in Australia, they face cutting off ties from their family and friends, who may be then vulnerable living under a regime that has already killed tens of thousands. Backlash might extend to teammates, other footballers, and out through community networks still living in Iran.
