JAKARTA - The Iranian Women's National Team (Women's National Team) has left Malaysia on Monday, March 16, 2026, local time.
It ended days of uncertainty, after most of the seven-man squad who sparked a diplomatic furore by seeking asylum in Australia had reversed their decisions and rejoined the team in Kuala Lumpur.
Secretary-General of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Windsor John, told the Associated Press that the team's departure on Monday night was arranged by the Iranian Embassy.
He said the AFC, which supported the Iranian Women's National Team in Kuala Lumpur, was told they would fly to Oman, but that was not the final destination. Windsor further said he did not know their full travel plans.
Asked if the AFC believed the women's footballers would be safe back in Iran, Windsor said both the AFC and FIFA would regularly check on their situation with the Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI).
The squad flew from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur on March 10, 2026 after being eliminated from the 2026 Women's Asian Cup (AFC Women's Championship) in Australia.
Initially, there were six players and a support staff member who stayed in Australia and did not join the squad to Malaysia to receive a protection visa.
However, the four players and one staff later rejoined the team in Kuala Lumpur. They followed to Malaysia on Monday, March 16, 2026. There was no reason given for the change in decision.
Meanwhile, the Iranian diaspora in Australia blamed pressure from Tehran for making five people from the Iranian Women's National Team squad change their minds to refuse asylum.
Meanwhile, Windsor told a news conference that the AFC had not received any direct complaints from the players about their return.
Even so, there were media reports that their families in Iran could face retaliation for the Iranian Women's National Team not singing the national anthem before the opening group match.
The silence during the national anthem was reported as a sign of defiance or mourning. The team did not clarify and they sang it at the next match.
"We can't verify anything. We asked them and they said it was okay. They were actually excited. They didn't look scared," Windsor said.
Currently, the remaining two players are still in Australia to obtain asylum. The Australian government revealed that the two had been moved to a secret safe location and received assistance from local authorities and the Iranian diaspora community.
Meanwhile, the Iranian government welcomed the decision of the Iranian Women's National Team squad to reject asylum, saying it was a victory against Australia and US President Donald Trump.
The Iranian women's national team arrived in Australia for the 2026 Women's Asian Cup shortly before the war in the Middle East began on February 28, 2026, which made it difficult to arrange travel.
Assistant Minister for Immigration Australia, Matt Thistlethwaite, described the difficulties of the Iranian Women's National Team squad in Australia as a very complex situation.
"This is a very personal decision. The government respects the decision of those who have chosen to return. We continue to offer support to the two people who are still staying," said Thistlethwaite.
Then, Kylie Moore-Gilbert - a political scientist at Sydney's Macquarie University who spent more than two years in an Iranian prison on espionage charges from 2018 to 2020 - said winning the propaganda war had overshadowed the welfare of the women (in the Iranian Women's National Team).
"In my view, the high stakes have made the Iranian regime wake up and try to force them to respond."
"I think in this case, if these women were quietly seeking asylum without publicity around them, it's possible that Iranian officials, as they have in the past in the cases of other Iranian athletes who defected, let it happen," Moore-Gilbert said.
In a similar vein, the Vice President of the Australian-Iranian Society in Victoria, Kambiz Razmara, said that the women who received asylum were under pressure from the Tehran regime.
"They have to make decisions on the fly with little information and they have to react to circumstances."
"I was surprised that they decided to leave, but actually I'm not surprised because I understand the pressure they are under," Razmara said.
Iran's Tasnim news agency said the players who left Australia returned to the warm embrace of their families and homeland, describing their return as a failure of what it called a US-Australian political effort.
Concerns about the safety of the women's team in Iran escalated when the players did not sing the Iranian national anthem.
The Australian government was urged to help the women by the Iranian diaspora in Australia and Trump. The Iranian Embassy in the capital Canberra remains operational despite the Australian government having expelled the ambassador last year.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese severed diplomatic ties with Iran in August 2025 after announcing intelligence officials had concluded the Revolutionary Guards had directed arson attacks on a kosher food company in Sydney and the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne in 2024.
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