Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has confirmed that the Australian government has granted humanitarian visas to five Iranian women's soccer players. The players had been labeled "traitors" on Iranian state television for not singing the national anthem before a game.
The operation to secure their asylum began on Sunday night when Australian officials waited for the Iranian women's team as they jogged off the field at Robina Stadium on the Gold Coast. Discussions with players started in earnest early Monday, when it became clear five members wanted asylum. The women slipped away from their minders with the help of Australian Federal Police and Queensland Police.
Minister Burke met the group around 9pm Monday to sign their applications for temporary humanitarian visas. By 1:30am Tuesday, the paperwork was processed. In a secure location in Brisbane, the five footballers broke into a spontaneous cry of "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!" as Burke signed the documents.
The players had been under threat after Iranian state TV called them traitors for not singing the national anthem before their opening match against South Korea on March 2. Days later, before a match against Australia, they sang the anthem with hands raised or across their hearts. A radical conservative TV presenter called for them to be dealt with "more harshly" in times of war, and under Iran's penal code, treason can lead to lengthy prison sentences or the death penalty.
Minister Burke said the government's silence during the operation was necessary to enable the players to safely express their desire to stay. Opposition leader Angus Taylor supported the decision, crediting the women for showing "enormous courage."
