Member of Iranian football delegation granted Australian asylum changes her mind. 3 hours ago. Katy Watson & Simon Atkinson,On the Gold Coastand. Ben Hatton. Supplied. Australia says one of the two members of the Iranian football group who had earlier accepted an offer to stay in the country has changed her mind.. “One of the two who had made the decision to stay last night, had spoken to some of the teammates who had left and had changed her mind,” Immigration Minister Tony Burke told parliament on Wednesday.. The two – one player and one member of support staff – had previously been reunited with another five players who were granted visas to stay over concerns about their safety.. The remaining Iranian players left Australia on Tuesday night local time – two days after they were knocked out of the Asian Cup.. “In Australia people are able to change their mind. We respect the context in which she had made that decision,” Burke said.. “Unfortunately, in making that decision, she’d been advised by her teammates and coach to contact the Iranian embassy and to get collected.”. He said as a result it meant the Iranian embassy knew the location of the other Iranians who had elected to stay.. “I immediately gave the instruction for people to be moved, and that’s been dealt with immediately,” Burke said.. He said officials had made sure “that this was her decision, and every question you would want asked, was asked.”. Some members of the Iranian football delegation had been granted asylum after concerns about the team’s safety when they did not sing the national anthem ahead of their match against South Korea last week.. Two other members of the team – player Mohaddeseh Zolfi and support staff member Zahra Soltan Meshkeh Kar – were later separated from the rest of the squad at their hotel on the Gold Coast, after indicating they would like to remain. They were then taken to a police facility in Brisbane, Burke had said previously.. All the women who stayed were to be fast-tracked to permanent residency, Burke said.. The offer to stay was reiterated to “most” of the remainder of the delegation at Sydney Airport before they were due to leave the country on Tuesday night, he continued.. Burke said a “very significant” police presence at Sydney Airport ensured players were separated from minders while they talked to officials one-on-one through a translator, and were given the chance to call family.. Getty Images. None of them chose to accept the offer to stay, Burke said, but he added that one person got on the plane “quite late” after conversations with family.. “That individual made their own decision,” Burke said – noting that there had been no pressure on them to take the flight.. He added a small number of the travelling group were not invited to stay – thought to be a reference to be Iranian government minders.. “There are some leaving Australia who I am glad are not in Australia,” he said.. The team arrived at Sydney Airport from the Gold
