FILE - Iran players pose for a team photo ahead of the Women's Asian Cup soccer match between Iran and the Philippines in Robina, Australia, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (Dave Hunt/AAPImage via AP,File)
AFC General Secretary Windsor John, left, with his deputy Vahid Kardany, speaks at a news conference near Kuala Lumpur, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Eileen Ng)
FILE - Iran players pose for a team photo ahead of the Women's Asian Cup soccer match between Iran and the Philippines in Robina, Australia, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (Dave Hunt/AAPImage via AP,File)
AFC General Secretary Windsor John, left, with his deputy Vahid Kardany, speaks at a news conference near Kuala Lumpur, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Eileen Ng)
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) 鈥 The Iranian women鈥檚 soccer team is set to leave Malaysia on Monday night, ending days of uncertainty after most of the seven squad members who sparked a diplomatic furor by seeking asylum in Australia reversed their decisions and rejoined the team in Kuala Lumpur.
The Asian Football Confederation general secretary Windsor John told The Associated Press that the team鈥檚 departure Monday night was arranged by the Iranian embassy. He said the AFC, which is supporting the Iranian team in Kuala Lumpur, was told they are flying to Oman but that isn鈥檛 their final destination. He said he wasn鈥檛 aware of their full travel plans.
Asked if confederation is satisfied that the women will be safe back in Iran, Windsor said that both the AFC and FIFA will check up on them regularly with the Iranian football federation "as they are our girls as well.鈥
Requests for asylum, and changes of heart
The squad flew from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur on March 10 after being knocked out of the Women鈥檚 Asian Cup in Australia, initially leaving behind six players and a support staff member who had accepted protection visas.
Four players and the staffer have since rejoined the team in Kuala Lumpur, the latest flying in on Monday. No reasons have been given for the changes of heart. The Iranian diaspora in Australia blames pressure from Tehran.
Windsor said at a news conference earlier that his confederation had not received any direct complaints from players about returning home, despite media reports their families in Iran could face retaliation for the team before the opening match.
The was variously reported as an act of resistance or a show of mourning. The team didn鈥檛 clarify, and it sang at the opening of a later match.
鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 verify anything. We asked them and they said, 鈥楴o, it鈥檚 ok,鈥欌 he said. 鈥淭hey are actually in high spirits... they didn鈥檛 look afraid.鈥
Two players remain in Australia
Iranian authorities have welcomed the women's decisions to reject asylum as a victory against Australia and U.S. President .
Iran鈥檚 squad had arrived in Australia for the tournament shortly before the war in the Middle East began on Feb. 28, complicating travel arrangements.
Assistant Immigration Minister Matt Thistlethwaite described the women's plight in Australia as a 鈥渧ery complex situation.鈥
鈥淭hese are deeply personal decisions, and the government respects the decisions of those that have chosen to return. And we continue to offer support to the two that are remaining,鈥 Thistlethwaite said.
Those who stayed in Australia have been moved to an undisclosed safe location and are receiving assistance from the government and the Iranian diaspora community, he said.
A 鈥榩ropaganda war鈥
, a political scientist at Sydney's Macquarie University who spent more than two years in Iranian prisons on spying charges from 2018 to 2020, said 鈥渨inning the propaganda war鈥 had overshadowed the women's welfare.
鈥淭he high stakes made the Iranian regime sit up and pay attention and try to force their hand in response, in my view,鈥 Moore-Gilbert said.
"I do think in this case, had these woman quietly sought asylum without that publicity around them, it鈥檚 possible that the Islamic Republic officials might have, as they have in the cases of other Iranian sports people in the past who鈥檝e defected ... simply allowed that to happen," she added.
Iran鈥檚 Tasnim News Agency said the players who left Australia were 鈥渞eturning to the warm embrace of their family and homeland,鈥 describing their return as a failure of what it called an American-Australian political effort.
Concerns about the team鈥檚 safety in Iran heightened when the players didn鈥檛 sing the Iranian national anthem.
The Australian government was urged to help the women by Iranian groups in Australia and by Trump.
The embassy in the national capital Canberra remains staffed, despite the Australian government last year.
Australian Prime Minister cut off diplomatic relations with Iran in August after announcing that intelligence officials had concluded that the Revolutionary Guard had directed arson attacks on a Sydney kosher food company and Melbourne鈥檚 in 2024.
Australian-Iranian Society of Victoria vice president Kambiz Razmara said the women who accepted asylum had been under pressure from the Tehran regime.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e had to make decisions at the spur of the moment with very little information and they鈥檝e had to react to the circumstance,鈥 Razmara said. 鈥淚鈥檓 surprised that they鈥檝e decided to go, but I鈥檓 actually not surprised because I appreciate the pressures that they鈥檙e experiencing."
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McGuirk reported from Melbourne, Australia.
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This story has been edited to correct that Macquarie University is in Sydney, not Melbourne.
