Iran Women's Soccer Team Is Feeling The Effects Of The War All The Way In Australia

"In the pregame routine ahead of the team's first tournament match against South Korea on March 2, the Lionesses stood silently while the Iranian national anthem played, a longstanding gesture by Iranian athletes usually interpreted as a form of protest against the regime. The gesture was condemned by the state back at home: Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting personality Mohammed Reza Shahbazi called the team "traitors during wartime" during a broadcast and said that they must be dealt with "more severely" due to the timing of the anthem protest, just 48 hours after the death of Khamenei."

"Shahbazi's threatening message, coming as it did from the state television apparatus, as well as the general unrest in the country during the continued American and Israeli attacks, appeared to have affected the players. For the team's second and third games of the group stage, against Australia and the Philippines, the players sang the anthem while raising their hands in a military salute."

"After the match against the Philippines, a crowd surrounded the Iranian team bus as it was preparing to depart from the team's Gold Coast hotel to the airport, chanting "Save our girls!" and "Let them go!" Like many of the Iran fans during the games, some of the people surrounding the team bus were carrying the pre-Islamic Republic imperial flag of Iran."

Five members of Iran's women's national soccer team defected to Australian police custody following their third group-stage match at the 2026 Women's Asian Cup. The defections occurred amid escalating tensions after the team's silent protest during the Iranian national anthem before their first match against South Korea on March 2, just two days after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's death in a U.S.-Israel military offensive. State television personality Mohammed Reza Shahbazi condemned the players as "traitors during wartime," threatening severe consequences. Facing threats and unrest, the players subsequently sang the anthem with military salutes during their remaining matches. After their final group-stage game against the Philippines, crowds surrounded the team bus chanting "Save our girls!" and "Let them go!" while displaying the pre-Islamic Republic imperial flag.

Read at Defector