Iran says women’s football captain withdraws Australia asylum bid

The captain of the Iranian women’s football team which played in the Asian Cup in Australia has withdrawn her bid for asylum, state media said Sunday (March 15, 2026), making her the fifth member of the delegation to change her mind.

A former player and a Persian-language TV channel based outside Iran said the players had been pressured to reverse their stance through threats against families back home. But Iranian authorities have in turn accused Australia of pressuring the players to stay.

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Captain Zahra Ghanbari, a striker and the national team’s top goalscorer, has withdrawn her asylum application and will now head from Australia to Malaysia and from there fly back to Iran, the state-run IRNA news agency said.

Three players and one backroom staff member had already, in previous days, withdrawn their bids for asylum and travelled to Malaysia.

Seven members of Iran’s visiting football delegation competing in the Women’s Asian Cup had sought sanctuary in Australia after they were branded “traitors” at home for refusing to sing the national anthem.

The football drama has unfolded against a backdrop of war in West Asia unleashed by U.S.-Israeli air strikes on Iran, which also followed protests against the clerical system that peaked in January.

Following the captain’s reported move to go back on her asylum request, only two of them are now set to remain in Australia. The players returning to Iran were at a hotel in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, awaiting their onwards travel.

There was no immediate comment from Australian authorities on Ghanbari’s situation.

Last week one player had changed her mind, followed by two players and the one staff member who left Australia on Saturday.

Australia Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement that day that “three members of the Iranian Women’s Football Team made the decision to join the rest of the team on their journey back to Iran”.

He said that after informing Australian officials of their decision, “the players were given repeated chances to talk about their options,” he said.

The Australian government gave team members the opportunity to seek refuge but players faced “incredibly difficult decisions”, the Minister said.