{"id":1820188,"date":"2026-03-11T12:29:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T09:29:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1820188"},"modified":"2026-03-11T12:29:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T09:29:28","slug":"iran-womens-team-lands-in-malaysia-amid-asylum-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1820188","title":{"rendered":"Iran women’s team lands in Malaysia amid asylum talks"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/static.dw.com\/image\/76304665_6.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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https:\/\/p.dw.com\/p\/5AA9n<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n
The Asian Football Confederation said it is focusing on ‘the welfare and safety of the players and officials.’Image: Mohd Rasfan\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Members of the Iranian women’s national football team landed in Malaysia on Wednesday after their Asian Cup elimination and are awaiting a flight home as Iran<\/a>‘s airspace remains closed amid US and Israeli strikes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They were received in Kuala Lumpur by Iran’s ambassador to Malaysia, Valiollah Mohammadi, and are staying in a hotel while travel plans are finalized.<\/p>\n

Anthem protest and asylum offer<\/h2>\n

Six players and one staff member remain in Australia<\/a> after accepting humanitarian visas<\/a>\u00a0offered by the Australian government. Another player initially accepted Australia’s asylum offer but changed her mind at the last minute.<\/p>\n

The team was offered asylum after some players remained silent during the Iranian national anthem before their opening match \u2014 a gesture that led Iranian state television to call them\u00a0“wartime traitors<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

Fearing possible persecution if they returned home, the Australian government offered the squad humanitarian visas.<\/p>\n

Some members, officials told the Associated Press, were not granted visas \u2014\u00a0reportedly because of ties to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.<\/p>\n

After the opening game, the players sang the anthem in subsequent matches but have not publicly explained their actions or shared their views.<\/p>\n

‘Come home’ \u2014 Iran’s foreign minister<\/h2>\n

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baqaei, has called the team to “come home.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Don’t worry \u2014 Iran awaits you with open arms,” Baqaei wrote on X.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Iran’s governing football body says Australia held the players as \u201chostages\u201d and coerced them to abandon their country.<\/span><\/p>\n

Team members to receive support in Australia<\/span><\/h2>\n

Rights groups have long accused Iranian authorities of pressuring athletes abroad by threatening relatives or seizing property if they defect or speak out against the Islamic Republic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Team members who chose to stay in Australia, Burke said, would not face a legal battle for permanent residency and would receive health, housing and other support in the country.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

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Members of the Iranian women’s national football team landed in Malaysia on Wednesday after their Asian Cup elimination and are awaiting a flight home as Iran<\/a>‘s airspace remains closed amid US and Israeli strikes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They were received in Kuala Lumpur by Iran’s ambassador to Malaysia, Valiollah Mohammadi, and are staying in a hotel while travel plans are finalized.<\/p>\n

Anthem protest and asylum offer<\/h2>\n

Six players and one staff member remain in Australia<\/a> after accepting humanitarian visas<\/a>\u00a0offered by the Australian government. Another player initially accepted Australia’s asylum offer but changed her mind at the last minute.<\/p>\n

The team was offered asylum after some players remained silent during the Iranian national anthem before their opening match \u2014 a gesture that led Iranian state television to call them\u00a0“wartime traitors<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

Fearing possible persecution if they returned home, the Australian government offered the squad humanitarian visas.<\/p>\n

Some members, officials told the Associated Press, were not granted visas \u2014\u00a0reportedly because of ties to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.<\/p>\n

After the opening game, the players sang the anthem in subsequent matches but have not publicly explained their actions or shared their views.<\/p>\n

‘Come home’ \u2014 Iran’s foreign minister<\/h2>\n

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baqaei, has called the team to “come home.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Don’t worry \u2014 Iran awaits you with open arms,” Baqaei wrote on X.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Iran’s governing football body says Australia held the players as \u201chostages\u201d and coerced them to abandon their country.<\/span><\/p>\n

Team members to receive support in Australia<\/span><\/h2>\n

Rights groups have long accused Iranian authorities of pressuring athletes abroad by threatening relatives or seizing property if they defect or speak out against the Islamic Republic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Team members who chose to stay in Australia, Burke said, would not face a legal battle for permanent residency and would receive health, housing and other support in the country.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Members of the Iranian women’s national football team landed in Malaysia on Wednesday after their Asian Cup elimination and are awaiting a flight home as Iran<\/a>‘s airspace remains closed amid US and Israeli strikes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They were received in Kuala Lumpur by Iran’s ambassador to Malaysia, Valiollah Mohammadi, and are staying in a hotel while travel plans are finalized.<\/p>\n

Six players and one staff member remain in Australia<\/a> after accepting humanitarian visas<\/a>\u00a0offered by the Australian government. Another player initially accepted Australia’s asylum offer but changed her mind at the last minute.<\/p>\n

The team was offered asylum after some players remained silent during the Iranian national anthem before their opening match \u2014 a gesture that led Iranian state television to call them\u00a0“wartime traitors<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

Fearing possible persecution if they returned home, the Australian government offered the squad humanitarian visas.<\/p>\n

Some members, officials told the Associated Press, were not granted visas \u2014\u00a0reportedly because of ties to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.<\/p>\n

After the opening game, the players sang the anthem in subsequent matches but have not publicly explained their actions or shared their views.<\/p>\n

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baqaei, has called the team to “come home.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Don’t worry \u2014 Iran awaits you with open arms,” Baqaei wrote on X.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Iran’s governing football body says Australia held the players as \u201chostages\u201d and coerced them to abandon their country.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rights groups have long accused Iranian authorities of pressuring athletes abroad by threatening relatives or seizing property if they defect or speak out against the Islamic Republic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Team members who chose to stay in Australia, Burke said, would not face a legal battle for permanent residency and would receive health, housing and other support in the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

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[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/static.dw.com\/image\/76304665_6.jpg”] https:\/\/p.dw.com\/p\/5AA9n The Asian Football Confederation said it is focusing on ‘the welfare and safety of the players and officials.’Image: Mohd Rasfan\/AFP\/Getty Images Members of the Iranian women’s national football team landed in Malaysia on Wednesday after their Asian Cup elimination and are awaiting a flight home as Iran‘s airspace remains closed amid […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,74],"class_list":["post-1820188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-dw-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1820188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1820188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1820188\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1820188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1820188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1820188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}