‘Save our girls’: Supporters plead for action over Iranian women’s football team in Australia

By Hilary Whiteman, CNN

Brisbane, Australia (CNN) — After their final defeat in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup on Sunday, supporters of the Iranian women’s football team crowded around their bus shouting at police to “save our girls” as it pulled away.

Hadi Karimi, a human rights advocate and member of the local Iranian community, said supporters outside the bus could clearly see at least three players inside making the international hand signal for help.

“We’re asking federal police, the government, Australian people, everyone. These girls are asking for help. They showing their hand, (the) SOS sign. This is very, very important. Their life is in danger,” he said.

The players, who’ve been in Australia for a week, are at the center of growing calls for their exit from the country to be blocked for fear of persecution in Iran, their home country that’s at war with the US and Israel under a new hardline supreme leader.

Before their first match last Monday, the players stood silent during the Iranian national anthem, a gesture they didn’t explain but one that was interpreted by some hardliners inside Iran as a sign of treason.

Sources told CNN they were forced to sing the national anthem ahead of their next match on Thursday, and on Sunday, ahead of their final 0-2 defeat to the Philippines, they again sang the anthem and gave a military salute.

The women’s plight has reached Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s ousted shah, who also joined calls for the Australia government to ensure their safety, warning in a post on X that they’ll face “dire consequences” if they return to Iran.

“As a result of their brave act of civil disobedience in refusing to sing the current regime’s national anthem, they face dire consequences should they return to Iran,” Pahlavi posted on X. “I call on the Australian government to ensure their safety and give them any and all needed support.”

Defiance then silence

The Iranian women’s team has been contesting the Women’s Asian Cup in Australia during a week of turmoil for their country as the conflict with the US and Israel escalates to take in neighboring countries.

The war has disrupted international travel, and while flying to the Middle East right now is difficult due to airspace closures and the risk of airstrikes, supporters fear the women will be taken to a third country – perhaps China, Russia or Malaysia – before an onward journey to the Middle East.

Craig Foster, a former Australian international and human rights advocate, said “a vast range of organizations” had tried to speak with the women during their time in Australia but had been denied the opportunity.

“No athlete group should ever be effectively held hostage by their own member federation and denied access to external support networks,” he said. He said as the players had been knocked out the competition, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) had responsibility for their welfare.

“The first thing that the Australian football community is calling on them is to grant access to the players to safe, culturally appropriate support networks, so that they can privately and confidentially express if they are feeling unsafe and what they would like to see happen,” he said.

CNN has reached out to the AFC, FIFA and the Iranian Football Federation for comment.

Beau Busch, President of FIFPRO Asia/Oceania, which represents soccer players in the region, told the ABC they hadn’t been able to contact members of the Iranian team.

While that was “incredibly concerning,” he said the group had anticipated problems after the Iranian regime’s crackdown on protesters earlier this year. “Our responsibility right now is to do everything within our power to try and make sure that they’re safe,” he said.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong declined to comment on Sunday, when asked if there’d been any contact between Australian officials and the Iranian players. She said she didn’t want to “get into commentary about the Iranian women’s team.”

“We stand in solidarity with the men and women of Iran and particularly Iranian women and girls,” she told national broadcaster, the ABC. “Obviously, this is a regime that we know has brutally cracked down on its people.”

At a post-match press conference on Sunday, Iran coach Marziyeh Jafari said the team was keen to return home. “Personally, I would like to return to my country as soon as possible and be with my compatriots and family,” she said.

Karimi, who’s also vice president of the Iranian society of Queensland, said supporters gathered outside the players’ hotel and when they couldn’t make contact them due to tight security, they sought help from local Australian police.

They were back there on Monday, keeping watch to see if the bus leaves with the players on board for the airport. “We want you to separate them from IRGC,” he said, referring to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“Separate them from Islamic regime members, and interview them,” he said.

CNN’s Patrick Sung Cuadrado and Christina Macfarlane contributed reporting.

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