How the high stakes escape of Iranian women footballers played out as they sought asylum in Australia

Tony Burke boarded a plane at Canberra Airport at dinner-time on Monday, having spent the afternoon with Cabinet’s national security committee.

It was the Home Affairs Minister’s second trip to Brisbane on short notice in as many days as he personally helped efforts to grant five Iranian footballers asylum in Australia.

At the same time as he got on the Virgin flight, supporters of the Lionesses were filming chaotic scenes in the lobby of the team’s Gold Coast hotel as minders linked to the Islamic Republic ran into the area looking for the women.

They had escaped and were helped by Australian Federal Police and community supporters to get to a safe house.

The courageous move came despite Iranian team officials telling the players that no one could help them, according to Tina Kordrostami, an Iranian-Australian and NSW local councillor who was in contact with the team via intermediaries.

“The girls kept saying they weren’t convinced it could be that easy because their regime handlers had been in their heads for days,” she told The Australian.

“A few hours later we got told through our contacts that the girls were talking with their families and happy to go ahead with the plan.”

Mr Burke arrived at the safe house at about 9pm and spent some 45 minutes on the paperwork for humanitarian visas that would let them stay in Australia for at least 12 months.

He called ASIO boss Mike Burgess for a final reassurance there were no security concerns from the intelligence agency about the women, and checked in with AFP commissioner Krissy Barrett about the police plan for their safety.

Iranian-Australian migration agent Nagmeh Danai helped Home Affairs officials to explain to the footballers on Monday night what the visa offer was, how the processing happened, and to reassure them they wouldn’t be sent to camps.

She said the young women had been “under a lot of pressure not to talk to anyone” despite the Iranian community “trying to tell them to stay and to tell them that you are safe here, we can talk to the police”.

By 1.30am, the department’s work was final. They could stay.

“Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi!” chants range out in the room.

“There were lots of photos, lots of celebrating... These women are great athletes, great people, and they’re going to feel very much at home in Australia,” Mr Burke recounted on Tuesday morning.

“They wanted to make clear they are not political activists. They’re athletes who want to be safe and are very grateful that Australia is making that opportunity for them.”

The players – 33-year-old captain Zahra Ghanbari and teammates Fatemeh Pasandideh, 21, Zahra Sarbali Alishah, 32, Atefeh Ramezanizadeh, 33, and Mona Hamoudi, 32 – posed for photos with Mr Burke, heads bare, sleeves pushed up, tired-looking eyes and relieved expressions.

Earlier in the week, coach Marziyeh Jafari and an interpreter ignored an Australian-based Iranian reporter’s question at a post-match press conference about whether the wearing of mandatory hijabs had impacted the team’s performance.

Other questions of a political nature were either made off limits to journalists or shut down by AFC officials and the players and coach appeared guarded in their answers while in Australia.

Back in Canberra in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, the whole affair took a further turn for the surreal when Donald Trump inserted himself into the calls for Australia to help the soccer players, taking to his online platform Truth Social to accuse Australia of “making a terrible humanitarian mistake by allowing the Iranian Women’s National Soccer team to be forced back to Iran”.

The US President then phoned Anthony Albanese at around 2am to discuss the plight of the players.

“I was able to convey to him the action that we’d undertaken over the previous 48 hours, and that five of the team had asked for assistance and had received it and were safely located,” the Prime Minister said.

“Australians have been moved by the plight of these brave women. They’re safe here and they should feel at home here.”

The high stakes escape came a day after the Iranian national team had been eliminated from the Women’s Asian Cup following losses to South Korea, Australia and the Philippines.

Supporters surrounded their bus as it exited the Gold Coast stadium, and some of the players filmed them while one reported made a hand signal indicating the SOS distress call.

The AFP said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon that its officers had been working with Home Affairs for 72 hours to help the athletes, and acknowledged the help and advocacy from community leaders, not-for-profit groups and ordinary Australians.

Iranian-Australian community advocates lost contact with the women after they escaped the team hotel on Monday night, supporter Shahrzad Shirkhanzadeh told The Nightly on Tuesday.

She had been asked to make the announcement on social media on Monday night, with several of the players told to keep tight-lipped about the situation.

Ms Danai said they had been weighing up fears of imprisonment upon returning home and threats to their families and assets if they stayed.

“Do they need to stay here and leave their parents and their family, their partners, back in Iran? Their assets and everything? What will happen to them here, will they have any support, government support? They didn’t know anything at all,” she told the ABC.

Ms Shirkhanzadeh said she was grateful for the Australian Government’s swift action but said the community was waiting to see what would happen next.

The Government has extended the offer of protection to the others remaining in the squad, but it’s not yet known if any will take it.

“That’s a personal decision because some of their families are under pressure, so probably some of them want to go back at any cost, to be only with their family,” Ms Shirkhanzadeh said.

Shadow Home Affairs minister Jonno Duniam, who has been in conversation with Mr Burke about the footballers over the past few days, said he was satisfied the government had done everything they could for the whole team.

“There are reports that this group of women is under coercive control. There are various reports of the individuals managing this cohort. They don’t sound like friendly individuals, and it doesn’t sound like there’s a lot of free will being exercised,” he said.

Reports early in the Asian Cup suggested some of the “minders” were closely linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has just been listed as a terrorist organisation. But a Government source refuted that, saying if there had been any proof they were IRGC members they would not have been granted visas, or police would have intervened while they were in the country.

Ms Danai predicted other squad members would want to remain in Australia, but the window for them to do so was rapidly narrowing.

The rest of the team left their Gold Coast hotel for the airport on Tuesday afternoon, with one of the players appearing to be pulled by their teammates on to the bus.

Footage showed a heavy AFP presence around the minibus as the team boarded.

Supporters attempted to block the vehicle’s departure, including by sitting on the ground in front of it as they chanted, “Save our girls”, but were moved on by police.

The Refugee Council of Australia said the welcome decision recognised the serious safety concerns the players could face if they were required to return to Iran.

“Australia’s protection system exists for exactly these kinds of situations, to ensure that people who face serious harm if returned to their country have the opportunity to seek safety and have their claims properly considered,” chief executive Paul Power said.