Iran's 26-member women's soccer team traveled to Australia for the Asian Cup a few days before US-Israeli strikes on Iran began on February 28th. What happened next had nothing to do with football. During their first match of the tournament, the players stood silent as the Iranian national anthem played. Not one of them sang. The protest was quiet, wordless, and impossible to miss. An Iranian state television commentator responded by calling for their punishment. State media went further, labelling the players "wartime traitors." The safety of every woman on that squad became a live concern overnight.
"They can only talk with silence. It was a dismissal of the regime," said Tina Kordrostami, a local Sydney-area councilor who had been in contact with some of the players. "It was one of the most courageous things I've seen," she said, as per a report from the New York Times.
"Obviously, since they got intimidated so harshly, they're more scared," she said. "They were born and raised in a country that removed any notion of having a choice for them."
Throughout the tournament, community groups, players' unions, and sports organisations tried repeatedly to make contact with the squad. Those efforts went nowhere. Craig Foster, a human rights advocate and former captain of Australia's national soccer team, who was involved in a previous campaign that helped Afghanistan's women's national team flee Taliban rule, said the players were being deliberately cut off. "It is clear they are being silenced and coerced," Foster said, as per the report.
One of the players told Kordrostami, who was in the hotel lobby Monday evening, that her teammates were terrified, not just for themselves, but for the safety of their family members still in Iran.
The operation occurred after Iran's final match against the Philippines on Sunday. The Australian government representatives had made the players aware of their options earlier in the week.
"The U.S. will take them if you don't," Trump added. Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's deposed shah, also posted, describing the players' silent protest as "a brave act of civil disobedience" and warning they would face "dire consequences" on returning home. He urged Australia to ensure their safety and provide whatever support was needed.
FIFPro, the global soccer players' union, called on football's governing bodies to engage with the Australian government to protect the players.
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