Zahra Ghanbari, 34, the captain of Iran’s women’s national soccer team, [pictured here] is the latest Iranian women's team player to have ended her attempt to seek asylum in Australia and is returning home, Iran’s IRNA news agency reported Sunday. She is the latest of several players to reverse course amid concerns for their families as some now report that they have gone "missing."
Shiva Amini, an exiled former Iranian soccer player, said the decision came after “intense and systemic pressure on the players’ families” from Iran’s Football Federation. “Several of the players decided to go back because the threats against their families became unbearable and the intimidation was relentless,” she wrote on X. ...
The controversy began last week when seven members of Iran’s team at the Women’s Asian Cup refused to sing the national anthem, prompting backlash and threats. Their protest coincided with US and Israeli air strikes on Iran, which killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The women were branded “traitors” at home, and observers fear the regime may target their families if the players stay abroad.