• Super Admin
• 07 Mar, 2026

Iran's female soccer team will get "no special treatment" from the Australian government, a senior Labor MP says, despite a defiant protest on Australian soil sparking 'grave concern' for their safety in Iran. Iran 's female soccer players will get "no special treatment" from the Australian government after a brave act of defiance prompted "grave concern" for their safety should they return home. Iran 's female soccer team will get "no special treatment" from the Australian government, a senior Labor MP says, despite a defiant protest on Australian soil sparking 'grave concern' for their safety in Iran . The Iranian women's team - known as the Lionesses - bravely stood in silence instead of singing the Iranian National Anthem ahead of their opening AFC Women's Asian Cup match in Australia. The Albanese government has since faced calls to ensure the safety of the Iranian team, which arrived in Australia just days before the US and Israel launched a series of deadly strikes on the nation's leadership. While Australia's Iranian community were supportive of the protest, Iran's state TV branded the Team "wartime traitors". The designation prompted major concerns about their fate should they return to the country while the regime is engaged in a brutal crackdown on dissent. Iran's players remained silent during their national anthem before their opening match against South Korea on Monday, sparking"grave concerns" for their safety. Picture: Albert Perez/Getty Images Concerns only intensified after the team - which is believed to be accompanied in Australia by security personnel linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps - began their second match by not only singing the national anthem but standing in a military salute. The Australian Iranian Council pleaded the Australian government to take measures to ensure the safety of the group in a petition signed by thousands of Australians. However when asked about the issue on Sunday, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Matt Thistlethwaite said the team would receive "no preferential treatment" if they sought asylum. "Any sporting team or member of a sporting team gets no preferential treatment in terms of visas coming to Australia," the Labor MP said. "They must meet all of the conditions for the visa, and that includes a security check and a health check. "So there'll be no special circumstances granted to anyone thats competing in the Asian Women's Cup. The normal rules that apply to visa grants in Australia, including those important security checks, will apply." Asked the same question on ABC Insiders, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she did not want to "get into the commentary" about the team, though she acknowledged the major risk they faced. "We know this regime has brutally murdered many of its people. We know this regime has brutally oppressed many Iranian women, and we stand in solidarity with the men and women of Iran, particularly Iranian women and girls," Senator Wong said. At the time of writing, more than 45,000 people had signed the petition calling on the Australian government to protect the team. "We the undersigned community organisations and civil society groups, write to express our grave concern for the safety and wellbeing of members of Iran's women's national football team currently in Australia for the AFC Women's Asian Cup," the petition states. "These concerns are immediate and serious... the current wartime environment has intensified repression, fear, and the risks faced by anyone publicly perceived by the Islamic Republic as disloyal and a 'traitor'.""The players are not simply visiting athletes. They are women under the authority of a barbaric authoritarian state that has a long record of punishing perceived disobedience, including through intimidation, coercion, torture and reprisals against family members." The petition warns the risk of retaliation will be "especially acute" if they are compelled to return while the nature is in a "climate of war, surveillance, and political retaliation continues". The petition called on the government to take multiple steps to protect the players, including by ensuring no members of the team leaves Australia while credible safety fears remain, and to provide them with independent legal advice, interpreters, and "confidential protection pathways to each player on private and individual basis". "Australia is hosting this tournament. That carries not only logistical responsibilities, but moral ones," the petition read. "Where credible evidence exists that visiting athletes may face persecution, imprisonment, coercion, or worse upon return, silence is not a neutral position." Immigration Iran Visa AFC Women's Asian Cup Wong Protest Islamic Republic Sport Afc Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources. Sextortion Scammers Convicted in Nigeria, Marking First Australian CollaborationA global investigation involving Australian and Nigerian authorities has led to the conviction of two Nigerian scammers for their role in a sextortion plot that resulted in the suicide of a NSW boy. The scammers were sentenced to over 40 years in jail. This is the first time Australia has been involved in convicting sextortion scammers abroad. 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