ONE of the Iranian football squad members granted refuge in Australia has changed her mind and will return to Iran despite her mother’s desperate plea’s to stay away.
The player was one of two who did not board the teams plane on Tuesday to join five members granted visas on Monday.
Her decision has thrown the remaining six into crisis after she gave away their secret location to the Iranian embassy, the government in Canberra said.
Australia’s home affairs minister Tony Burke said the rest of the players have been moved to a new safe location.
“Unfortunately, in making that decision, she’d been advised by her teammates and coach to contact the Iranian embassy and to get collected,” Burke said.
Fears have been growing over the fate of the women after they were branded “traitors” by the regime for refusing to sing the national anthem ahead of their opening Asia Cup match in Australia.
The player reportedly changed track over fears for her family.
But a chilling message from her mother came too late.
A voice note said: “Don’t come [back to Iran]… they’ll kill you.”
Supporters were desperately trying to pass on the message as the footballer transitioned through the airport, according to ABC news.
She is now in Kuala Lumpur, the outlet reports.
The rest of the team’s departure from Sydney on Tuesday was met with outrage as one player was seen firmly pulled by the arm onto the coach and another could be heard wailing.
It comes as…
They will return to Iran as their home country continues its war with the US and Israel under a new hard-line supreme leader.
Concerns have been raised about whether the team was coerced.
According to a report from Iran International, the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Islamic Republic threatened the team members who remained in Australia.
The warning asked players to return to Iran “to ease the concerns of their families”.
It described their asylum requests as the result of an “enemy conspiracy” and “emotional agitation”.
A woman who met the team in their Gold Coast hotel on Monday said the atmosphere was “tense and heavily controlled” with players “under constant monitoring” by Iranian guards, news.com.au reports.
Another message smuggled by a player’s family out of Iran to the team read: “You need to stay”.
Weighing in on the debate, President Donald Trump warned the team “will most likely be killed” if they were allowed to return to Iran.
In a post on Truth Social Trump said he had spoken to Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and “He’s on it!”
Within hours chaos broke out in the hotel lobby as five of the players fled their minders to seek asylum.
The five escaping players included Zahra Ghanbari, the captain, along with Fatemeh Pasandideh, Zahra Sarbali, Atefeh Ramazanzadeh, and Mona Hamoudi.
But Iran became enraged by Australia’s intervention, with the foreign ministry urging the women to “come home.”
“Don’t worry – Iran awaits you with open arms,” Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei wrote on X.
Baghaei also questioned Trump’s claims of “saving” the players after new footage of a February 28 attack on an Iranian girls’ school which killed 165 students.
In a post on X he wrote: “They slaughtered more than 165 innocent Iranian schoolgirls in a double-tap Tomahawk attack in the city of Minab, and now they want to take our athletes hostage in the name of ‘saving’ them?”
