Five Iranian footballers granted Australian visas after anthem protest. 2 hours ago. Katy Watsonand. Simon Atkinson,reporting from the Gold Coast. Five members of the Iranian women’s football team have been granted humanitarian visas in Australia after their elimination in the Asian Cup, the government in Canberra says.. Immigration Minister Tony Burke said the women “were moved to a safe location” by Australian police. He said other squad members had been told they are welcome to stay in the country.. The women had been due to fly home, but supporters had raised fears for their safety after the team declined to sing the national anthem ahead of their match against South Korea last week.. This prompted criticism in Iran, with one conservative commentator accusing the team of being “wartime traitors” and pushing for harsh punishment.. Australia’s humanitarian visa programme grants permanent protection to refugees and people in humanitarian need. Visa holders can live, work and study in the country.. The remainder of the team has been taken to Gold Coast Airport and is expected to fly to Sydney later this evening.. The team’s coach was briefly stopped by dozens of activists who tried to persuade the other players to stay in Australia. Some protesters lay on the ground in an attempt to block the coach from moving forward. The players watched from inside the bus.. Speaking early on Tuesday, Burke said the five players were happy for their names to be confirmed as Fatemeh Pasandideh, Zahra Ghanbari, Zahra Sarbali, Atefeh Ramazanzadeh, and Mona Hamoudi.. “They want to be clear they are not political activists. They are athletes who want to be safe,” he said, adding that talks had been going on over several days.. He said that on Monday “it was made clear that there were five women who wanted to be able to stay in Australia”.. The group left their hotel the same day and were moved to a safe location by police. Shortly after they left the BBC witnessed some of their minders running across the hotel to try to find them – but they had already gone.. Follow live updates. Burke said he met the women at the safe location and then signed off for their applications to go onto humanitarian visas – a process completed at about 01:30 local time on Tuesday (15:30 GMT Monday).. It’s unclear what repercussions there might be for the players’ families as a result.. “I say to the other members of the team, the same opportunity is there. Australia has taken the Iranian women’s soccer team into our hearts. These women are tremendously popular in Australia.. “But we realise they are in a terribly difficult situation with the decisions that they’re making,” Burke said.. Reuters. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese later confirmed that the five players had been given humanitarian visas.. On Sunday evening, hundreds of supporters surrounded the Iranian Lionesses’ coach as it left the stadium on the Gold Coast, with chants of “save our girls”.. On Monday, US Presiden
