Members of Iran’s women’s football squad were seen making desperate SOS signals through the windows of their team bus as they departed Australia following their elimination from the Women’s Asian Cup.
The players had been labelled “traitors” by the Iranian Islamic regime after standing in silence during the national anthem ceremony before their opening fixture against South Korea on Monday evening.
Videos circulating on social media appear to capture the athletes using sign language to plead for assistance as their vehicle left the stadium.
Their defiant refusal to sing or perform the customary military salute during the pre-match ceremony provoked an immediate and furious reaction from Iranian state media.
The demonstration took place just two days after the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who had governed Iran with an iron fist for over four decades.
Mohammad Reza Shahbazi, a television presenter widely regarded as a radical voice for the regime, issued a chilling response to the players’ actions.
“In times of war, traitors must be dealt with more harshly,” he declared. “Anyone who takes even a single step against the country during wartime must face stronger consequences.”
Shahbazi insisted the protest should not be dismissed as a mere objection or symbolic gesture, demanding that “the stain of dishonour and treason must remain on their foreheads” and calling for “definitive and severe confrontation” against the women.
Members of Iran’s women’s football squad were seen making desperate SOS signals through the windows of their team bus
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Dozens of supporters surrounded the team coach as it departed the venue, many waving Iranian flags and chanting “save our girls” in solidarity with the players.
The pressure from state media appeared to affect the squad’s subsequent behaviour during the tournament.
For their second match, a 4-0 defeat to hosts Australia on Thursday, the women sang the anthem and performed the salute, with some observers describing them as “hostages” to the regime’s demands.
They repeated this performance before their final group-stage fixture, a 2-0 loss to the Philippines on Sunday, which confirmed their exit from the competition.
Iran’s women’s national football team refused to sing their country’s anthem | GETTYFans at the Asian Cup rallied behind the Iranian players throughout their remaining matches.
Australian shadow attorney general Julian Leeser has urged Canberra to grant asylum to the squad members.
He said on International Women’s Day: “We must stand up for the women in our midst.
“Given the serious threats, members of the Iranian team should be offered asylum if they want it.”
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the joint military operation | GETTYHe added: “The Australian government should not turn a blind eye to the danger these women face.”
Refugee Council chief executive Paul Power warned that “on the evidence that’s available, it would appear that the members of the women’s soccer team are at risk if they’re returned”.
Under Iranian law, treason carries the death penalty.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Assembly of Experts has appointed Mojtaba Khamenei, the late Supreme Leader’s 56-year-old son, as his successor, reportedly under pressure from the Revolutionary Guards.
