Football players requested asylum during the Asian Cup and the US president asked for protection for the group
The Australian government has granted visas to five players from Iran’s women’s national football team to stay in the country. The decision was announced this Tuesday (March 9, 2026) by the Australian Minister of Internal Affairs, Tony Burke. The athletes had requested asylum in Australia, where the Iranian team is competing in the Women’s Asian Cup tournament. The information is from the news agency .
As the national anthem of Iran in a match against South Korea, played in Queensland (Australia), on March 2 — a gesture interpreted as a political protest. On Sunday (8 March), Iran’s women’s team was eliminated from the Asian Cup after losing 2-0 to the Philippines.
The visas were granted after the President of the United States, Donald Trump (Republican Party), asked Australia not to send the players back to Tehran, expressing concern for their safety. Trump also stated in his Truth Social profile that allowing athletes to return would be a “terrible humanitarian error” and talked about the case with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (Labor Party, center-left).
Watch the moment when the Iranian women’s team refrains from singing the Anthem (50s):
📹 Iran women’s team refuses to sing national anthem
⚽️Iran’s women’s team refused to sing the national anthem before the opening game of the Asian Cup, on Monday (2.Mar.2026).
👇 Watch the video:
— Poder360 (@Poder360)
Burke said the remaining members of the Iranian team were also welcome to remain in Australia.
CLIMBING IN TENSION
The event was held after weeks of tension between the 2 countries. On February 19, Trump stated that, within 10 days, he would know whether to give “one step forward” in relation to an attack against the Persian country.
Afterwards, the Republican declared that everyone, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces, Dan Caine, considers that a possible war against Iran would result in one.
In , on Tuesday (24.Feb), Trump said that the US had not yet heard Iran pronounce “those magic words: ‘we will never have a nuclear weapon’”. In his speech, the American president stated that the Persian regime “has already developed missiles that could threaten Europe and our bases abroad, and is working to build missiles that will soon reach the USA”.
Trump’s statements were made while dealing with Iran, which did not result in an agreement.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters that the country if the Americans recognized its right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes and lifted economic sanctions.
Read more about Israel and the US attack on Iran:
