Professional Footballers Australia holds concerns for Iranian soccer team’s well-being

The future of the Iranian women’s soccer team is in doubt as their travel options are limited by the war in their home country, and advocates call on the Australian government to do everything it can to support them if they don’t want to leave.

The Lionesses and their coach, trainers and minders are believed to be still on the Gold Coast after their campaign in the Women’s Asian Cup came to an end with Sunday night’s 2-0 loss to the Philippines.

They’re expected to remain in Australia for at least the next few days due to the difficult logistics of returning to the Middle East.

Scrutiny of the players’ well-being has increased after an Iranian state television presenter last week labelled them “wartime traitors” for not singing the national anthem before their first match against South Korea.

The team sang and saluted ahead of their subsequent matches against Australia and the Philippines.

Supporters surrounded the team bus, chanting “Let them go,” as it left the stadium after Sunday night’s match.

Some supporters believed one of the players made a hand sign for “help” in the bus window, News Corp reported, but The Nightly was unable to verify this given the tinted windows and night-time lighting in videos of the incident.

The Government is understood to be doing everything it can to protect the team’s safety but is reluctant to speak about what this entails for fear of endangering them or their families.

Cabinet minister Tanya Plibersek said on Monday morning that it was “a very delicate situation” and she didn’t want to speculate about this case.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has been speaking with the Opposition about the situation.

“If any of these women seek asylum, I do believe that the government will give it serious consideration,” shadow foreign affairs minister Ted O’Brien said.

However, it has been difficult to know what the players want because no one has been able to get near them.

Rana Dadpour, the founder of women’s rights group AUSIRAN, said government officials should organise private meetings with the team members before they leave the country, warning they could face execution if they return home.

“We need to talk with these girls away from the handlers and the regime-affiliated people who are following them right now in Australia,” she told AAP.

“If they want to stay, I think we need to provide them with every support that we can.”

Professional Footballers Australia chief executive Beau Busch, who is also the Asia/Oceania president of the international footballers’ association, said the union hadn’t been able to get in touch with the players while they were in Australia.

“That’s incredibly concerning,” he said on Monday.

The PFA is pressuring the Asian Football Confederation and global body FIFA to uphold their obligations to protect players’ human rights and ensure their safety, including as they return to their home countries.

It’s also lobbying the Federal Government.

“Our responsibility now is to continue to work as hard as we can … to ensure that every bit of pressure is applied to make sure that the players are safe, that they have some agency around what happens next, whether they’re able to stay here in Australia or if they do want to return, how do we do that safely,” Mr Busch said.

On Sunday, coach Marziyeh Jafari said the team “want to come back to Iran as soon as we can”, after having guarded her thoughts throughout the tournament.

“I want to be with my country and with all Iranians inside Iran. We are eager to come back,” she said via an interpreter after the match.

More than 65,000 people have signed a petition since Friday urging Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to ensure that any player wishing to seek protection can do so “without interference from regime-associated officials or handlers”.

Exiled Iranian crown prince Reza Pahlavi also called for the government to ensure the players’ safety.

“The members of the Iranian Women’s National Football Team are under significant pressure and ongoing threat from the Islamic Republic,” he wrote on social media.

“As a result of their brave act of civil disobedience in refusing to sing the current regime’s national anthem, they face dire consequences should they return to Iran.”