The Iranian women's football team returned to Iran on Wednesday where they were promised a welcome ceremony in Tehran. The journey home completed a journey that began just weeks earlier in Australia, where the team competed in the AFC Women's Asian Cup alongside growing international tensions.
During the March 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup tournament in Australia, members of the Iran women's national football team refused to sing the anthem of the Islamic Republic of Iran before the match against South Korean team, in a gesture of solidarity with ongoing protests and massacres in Iran. The incident occurred before the team landed at Istanbul Airport on March 17, 2026 after several members of the delegation withdrew their asylum bids in Australia and decided to return home.
The silence during the national anthem ignited a political storm. Islamic Republic officials and figures threatened members of the team and called for the players to be prosecuted as "wartime traitors", an accusation punishable by death in Iran, raising concerns about their safety upon returning to the country. As a result, the team was offered temporary asylum by the Australian government, and five members were extracted from their hotel. An additional three also chose to remain in Australia, while another player and a staff member defected at the airport before their teammates left the country.
The situation shifted dramatically days later. Five of them withdrew their asylum applications and indicated a wish to return to Iran; three of those who had initially chosen to remain returned on 14 March, and a fifth player withdrew her asylum request on 15 March. The reasons for the reversals remain contested. IRIB state media claimed the women had been subjected to "psychological pressure" while in Australia, while human rights activists stated that the withdrawals may have been influenced by threats against the players' families in Iran.
Five members changed their minds, including captain Zahra Ghanbari. Rights groups have accused Tehran of systematically pressuring athletes abroad by threatening relatives with the seizure of property if they defect or make statements against the Islamic republic.
The rest of the team completed a long journey back on Wednesday via Malaysia, Oman and then to Istanbul and Turkey's overland Gurbulak-Bazargan border crossing with Iran. AFP reporters saw them cross into Iran on a bus, wearing the national team tracksuits and with their hair covered. In a post on X, Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the players and their support team were "children of the homeland, and the people of Iran embrace them". By returning, they had "disappointed the enemies (of Iran) and did not surrender to deception and intimidation by anti-Iran elements," he added.
However, not all chose to return. Two players, Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramezanizadeh, chose to remain in Australia and began training with Brisbane Roar on 16 March 2026.
International human rights organisations remain concerned about the broader implications. Nos Hosseini, a spokesperson for the Iranian Women's Association in Australia, said that even though the women had stated that they were not political, she feared that, based on previous actions by the Iranian Government, they would keep watch on the players who had stayed in Australia through their networks. The incident has raised questions about athlete safety, government pressure, and the intersection of sport with geopolitical conflict.