3 more members of Iran women’s soccer team change course, decline to accept asylum in Australia

Three more members of the Iranian women’s football team who accepted refugee visas Those who want to stay in Australia have decided to return to their home country, an Australian government minister said Sunday local time.

The departure leaves three of the team’s original seven members in Australia.

“Overnight, three members of the Iranian women’s football team made the decision to join the rest of the team on their return trip to Iran,” Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement.

“After announcing to the Australian authorities that they had made this decision, the players were given several opportunities to discuss their options,” added Burke.

The Iranian team arrived in Australia for the Asian Women’s Cup last month, before the start of the war in the Middle East on February 28.

Initially, six players and one support staff member from a 26-player roster accepted humanitarian visas to remain in Australia before the remainder of the Iranian contingent flew from Sydney to Malaysia on March 9.

One of them later changed her mind and left Australia. The other three left Sydney for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Saturday evening, a government official said. The rest of the team has remained in Kuala Lumpur since leaving Australia.

Iran’s Tasnim news agency said the last three to leave Australia were two players and a support staff member. The three men “returned to the warm arms of their family and their homeland,” the media said in a statement.

Concerns about the Iranian team’s safety increased when players failed to sing the Iranian national anthem before their first match.

The Australian government has been urged to help the woman by Iranian groups in Australia and by President Trump.

The Iranian news agency described the return of women to the team as “a shameful failure of the US-Australia project and another failure for Trump.”

Meanwhile, the Iranian men’s national soccer team’s participation in this summer’s World Cup in the United States is in doubt.

US officials told CBS News on Tuesday that Mr Trump had informed FIFA representativesincluding FIFA President Gianni Infantino, that Iran was welcome to participate in the tournament.

Infantino later wrote on social media that during the meeting, Mr. Trump “reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to participate in the tournament in the United States.”

However, Iranian Sports Minister Ahmad Donyamali, in response to Infantino’s comments, said his country could not participate in the World Cup due to the war.

And on Thursday, Mr. Trump appeared to backtrack, saying it would not be “appropriate” for the Iranian team to participate due to concerns “for their own lives and security.”