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The Iranian women’s football team have been whisked away on a bus at Sydney airport after dozens of supporters gathered at an airport gate to see them amid continued speculation about when or if they would be heading back to their home country.
The team – minus five players who have been formally granted protection in Australia – arrived in Sydney just after 8pm on Tuesday evening local time after leaving the Gold Coast after competing in the Women’s Asian Cup tournament.
Supporters gathered at the airport hoped more the players would try to remain in Australia after the team became embroiled in controversy for refusing to sing the national anthem at their opening game 10 days ago, prompting threats of reprisals for “traitors” amid the US-Israeli attacks on the country.
But the supporters remained frustrated as the team exited the plane from the back and were escorted onto a bus surrounded by airport staff and Australian Federal Police.
The supporters that had gathered outside the gate had expected the players to exit via the front of the plane along with the rest of the passengers. When it became clear they were exiting via the back of the plane and onto a bus, the supporters shone their torches through the airport window. Supporters believed they saw someone from inside the bus appear to shine a torch light back. Some of the supporters were crying.
After the bus left, there was a tense conversation outside the gate between the supporters and AFP officers. The supporters told the police that the torch shining back meant the person wanted help.
However, it was reported on Tuesday night that at least one of the players had refused to go any further and wanted to remain in Australia.
Five players, led by captain Zahra Ghanbari, were formally granted protection in Australia by home affairs minister Tony Burke early on Tuesday morning. The group – who have been given temporary humanitarian visas, which offers a pathway to permanent residency – has already been given an offer to train with A-League Women club Brisbane Roar.
Farak, one of the supporters, came to the airport with a recording which she said was of one of the player’s mothers, telling her to stay in Australia. She said she received it via a friend in Iran and had planned to play it via a speaker when the player exited the plane.
“I’m pretty sure if she hears this she will want to stay,” Farak, who asked to use only her first name, told Guardian Australia before the players boarded the bus.
She was devastated the player did not get the chance to hear the recording.
“It’s so sad,” she said. “What if something happens to this girl?”
Protesters had briefly blocked the departure of the players’ bus outside their Gold Coast hotel before it continued on and dropped the players off at the Gold Coast airport.
Government offering protection
Advocates connected to the group believed more – including possibly some staff – were considering staying in Australia.
Burke had said on Tuesday morning the other team members have been provided with the option to stay. “We are making sure there are further opportunities where if people want to make a request [to stay] they get that opportunity,” Burke said.
Amnesty International Australia’s Zaki Haidari said the players must be given an opportunity to speak to officials at the airport. “Customs and immigration officials, as well as Australian Border Force officers, have an opportunity to intervene and remind the team of their rights to seek protection in Australia,” he said, adding the offer of protection from the Australian government should be extended to players’ families in Iran.
Refugee advocate and former Socceroo Craig Foster said the players must be given independent legal advice before they leave the country. “We have a duty of care to these women now, from between now and when they may leave, that they’re all provided with that opportunity,” he said on the ABC.
Legal experts have expressed concern over possible offences committed under “exit trafficking” legislation, which prohibits the movement of people in and out of Australia using coercion.
NSW Anti-Slavery Commissioner James Cockayne called for “accountability” for people “undertaking criminal violations of Australian law while in Australia”. He wrote to Australian Federal Police (AFP) commissioner Krissy Barrett on Monday night, referring “a case of suspected exit trafficking for immediate investigation”.
He said members of the Iranian team, CCTV and other eye-witness accounts could help determine whether crimes have been committed. “There’s certainly a duty to protect human rights under international law, and that includes robust investigation of credible allegations like we see here. Whether the investigation concludes that there is a criminal offence is for the investigating authorities to determine.”
He warned the decision to investigate might not only be that of the AFP. “There are obviously some complex geopolitical and diplomatic sensitivities that will be factors in government decision making on this issue.”
The AFP issued a statement on Tuesday afternoon, confirming they have been “providing assistance” to officials from the Department of Home Affairs for the past three days. “The AFP acknowledges the community leaders, not-for-profit groups and ordinary Australians for their assistance and advocacy in this matter. The AFP will not be making further comment at this stage.”
Prime minister Anthony Albanese has come under international pressure around his handling of the matter, amplified by the intervention of US President Donald Trump through social media posts in the early hours of Tuesday.
Albanese said it remained a “delicate” situation, but it will be up to the players to reach out for help. “It is up to them. But we say to them, if you want our help, help is here, and we will provide that,” he said.
Organisers have been the target of criticism for allowing the situation to get to this stage. The president of Fifpro Asia, Beau Busch, said a human rights assessment should have been undertaken prior to the tournament.
Daniel Ghezelbash, director of the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at UNSW said people’s lives depend on these kinds of protocols. “It is well-documented that major sporting events enliven significant human rights risks, and a situation like the Iranian women’s team was a foreseeable eventuality.”
Burke said on Tuesday morning the group given protection broke out in a spontaneous chant of “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi” to celebrate receiving their Australian papers.
