Australian government responded to Donald Trump’s request and assured that the remaining players are also welcome to remain in Australia
Australia has agreed to grant visas to five players from Iran’s women’s football team to remain in the country, Reuters reports.
Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told reporters on Monday that other members of the team were also welcome to remain in Australia.
The asylum request received a response after US President Donald Trump appealed to Canberra, warning that if they returned to their country of origin “they would certainly be killed”.
On Truth Social, the American leader said he spoke with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese about the situation the Iranian team was in and assured: “He is taking care of it!”
“I just spoke to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, of Australia, about the Iranian women’s football team. He is taking care of it! Five have already been attended to and the rest are on the way”, he wrote on that social network.
After all, it would be a “terrible humanitarian error” for the professionals to return to Iran, Trump stressed.
“Some, however, feel they have to return because they are worried about the safety of their families, including threats to those family members if they do not return,” continued the American president, leaving a compliment to the Australian chief executive: “In any case, the prime minister is doing a great job dealing with this delicate situation.”
In a situation with a different outcome, Donald Trump guaranteed that the United States would welcome Iranian players “if Australia did not”.
The team was in Australia to compete in the Women’s Asian Cup and the incident occurred before Iran faced South Korea. By deciding not to sing the national anthem, the Iranians’ conduct was interpreted as “treason” in times of war and as a gesture of support for protests against the regime.
