MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Another three members Iranian women’s soccer team Australian government ministers announced on Sunday that people who accepted refugee visas to stay in Australia have decided to return to their home country.
The departure means three of the seven initial team members will remain in Australia.
“Overnight, we made the decision for three members of the Iranian women’s soccer team to join the rest of the team and return to Iran,” Interior Minister Tony Burke said in a statement.
“Once we informed the Australian authorities of this decision, the players were given a number of opportunities to discuss their options,” Burke added.
The Iranian team arrived in Australia last month for the Women’s Asian Cup. war In the Middle East, it began on February 28th.
Initially, six players and support staff from the 26-player team list accepted humanitarian visas to stay in Australia before the rest of the Iranian delegation left for Malaysia from Sydney on March 9.
The other later changed his mind and left Australia. According to government officials, the three left Sydney for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Saturday night. The remaining members of the team have remained in Kuala Lumpur since leaving Australia.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency said the latest three to leave Australia were two players and one support staff member. The news organization said in a statement that the three have “returned to the warm embrace of their families and their homeland.”
The players’ failure to sing the Iranian national anthem before the first game raised concerns about the team’s safety in Iran.
Australian government urged to help women by Iranian groups in Australia and US president donald trump.
Iranian News Agency described the return to the women’s team as “a disgraceful failure of the US-Australia project and another failure for President Trump.”
