After the controversy unleashed during the Asian Cup, the Australian Government confirmed that five players from the Iranian women's national team received humanitarian visas to stay in the country. The decision was made after the players expressed fear of possible retaliation if they returned to
their country.The Australian Interior Minister, Tony Burke, explained that talks with the delegation began in recent days and that finally 5 of the 26 members asked for assistance to stay. “The Australian police moved them to a safe place. Last night I gave my final approval to their requests for humanitarian visas,” he said. “They can stay in Australia, they are safe here and they need to feel at home,” he added.
Among the soccer players who applied for asylum is captain Zahra Ghanbari. According to local media, at least two other players have also initiated similar procedures, although this information has not yet been officially confirmed by the Ministry of the Interior
.
For their part, the rest of the delegation left Australian territory this Tuesday. The players traveled from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur, in Malaysia, a stopover prior to their return to Iran, according to the public broadcaster ABC.
The desperate call for help before boarding the plane
In the last few hours, a video began to circulate on social networks in which you can see some players from Iran making SOS signals with the lights of their cell phones on the bus that was going to take them to their
