Another 3 members of Iran’s women’s soccer team decide against staying in Australia as refugees

If you don't think trump would have everyone who doesn't kiss his ass killed if he could get away with it and smile while doing it, you haven't been paying attention.

still waiting on a source for this claim. doesn't it bother you?

the real sad part is iran will probably kill them and their family even after they extort them back to iran.

But in regards to the question, the reason they are going back is likely because their families are being threatened. >A member of the Iranian-Australian diaspora, who asked not to be named, said reports out of Iran suggested members of the team staff had been relaying messages from the Iranian government to the players who’d chosen to stay in Australia. >“They also reported that their families were threatened and even some voice messages by their families were played for the football players to convince them to go back,” the diaspora member said. Source: *The Guardian* Unsubstantiated of course. But not at all out of line with what the regime does and has been known to do.

The fact you guys don't think Iran won't kill them is hilarious. They've murdered 30,000 protesters, shut off the internet to kill them.

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202603145682

Sure. Before the final Iranian women's soccer game. They women's team players refused to sing the national anthem out loud during the pre-game ceremony, which the regime labeled as traitorous, especially during times of war. And said that there would be severe punishments for their actions. >On March 2, 2026, the Iranian women's national football team remained silent during their national anthem at the AFC Women's Asian Cup in Australia- a move widely interpreted as a protest agains the Iranian regime amid regional conflict. Following the act, Iranian state media branded the players "wartime traitors". The women's team chose not to do that because it was a sign of protest against the regimes brutal crackdown that was still ongoing even into the war (and to this day)- that saw *at-least* 7,000 people killed and other estimates putting the total death toll around 30,000+ people killed in early January. After being labeled as traitors, several of the women on the team were able to escape the hotel they were staying in (that was under supervision by the teams handlers) and then sought asylum from the Australian government. But now reports suggest many of them are changing their minds, after reported threats to some of the team members have been going around, and arrests made of their relatives. The reason the regime wants the women's team back is two-fold: 1) They were supposed to return to Iran after the end of the AFC cup. 2) The regime doesn't want people inside Iran being able to speak to the outside world right now. FYI: Iran still has it's January internet blackout in place (where they took the internet offline and severely restricted access), monitoring dissenters and people within the population who were part of the protests, or might go back to them again. International athletes going abroad, seeking asylum, and possibly speaking out against their government would be a very bad look for the regime, and might foment more unrest. So they want to as much as they can control what goes out, just like how they are doing so with the internet and people at home. And women, especially who are seemingly disobeying the regimes orders break that control and is a liability.

your life? do you really think your parents would want you to come back just to die after all that they did for you to grow up? really? i sure as shit wouldnt want mykids anywhere near.

The family you built in your new home with the people who accepted you into to their society.

Yea F IRGC.

Not as much as the Zionist Israel and imperialist USA

But we don't see those athletes that lose, attempt to defect, do we? There are plenty of Chinese athletes that do not win any medals. So the only conclusion one can draw, is that the China is holding their families hostage. Otherwise, what other reason can there be for so few Chinese defectors for asylum?

So why don't you explain why there are no defections from Chinese athletes?

and people who are granted asylum sometimes get buyer's remorse at their destination. They were about to go from representing their country and had futures to suddenly have to live and fend for themselves in a country they don't really understand yet.

Hey, you know, it’s completely possible to disagree with both the rationale and methods used by the US and Israel (which are horrific and evil) without simping for the similarly evil Iranian regime.  The Iranian people are by all accounts wonderful, but their country is run by fascist religious zealots who have put more women to death in the last decade than anyone else on the planet. And the ones they don’t put to death have very little rights. This isn’t a “both sides” argument; but people here are very clearly acting like these poor women are afraid to go back simply because there’s military action going on. I would bet that being bombed by the US or Israel is the lowest fear they have at this moment versus returning to a regime they publicly repudiated - who will punish them very severely upon return for daring to try and escape that life.

And that means its not a great place to be a woman? And it was an Iranian group that pushed the Australian government to offer the asylum. Not all Iranians are in Iran.