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The two Iran footballers who stayed in Australia following the Asian Cup say they want to rebuild lives in \u2018safety\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Published On 17 Apr 2026<\/span>17 Apr 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Iranian women \u200cfootball players Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramezanisadeh have thanked the \u2060Australian government \u2060for offering a \u201csafe haven\u201d and said they wished to resume their sporting careers after rebuilding their \u2060lives.<\/p>\n In their first public comments since being granted humanitarian visas, the players said in a statement on Friday the compassion and support \u2060shown to them had provided them hope for a future where they could live and compete in safety.<\/p>\n list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n \u201cWe wish to express our deepest gratitude to the Australian government, and particularly Home Affairs Minister \u200cTony Burke, for granting us humanitarian protection and a safe haven in this beautiful country,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n Australia initially granted humanitarian visas to six players and one support staff member from the Iranian squad after their Asian Cup campaign in Australia began just as the United States and Israel launched \u2060air strikes on Iran.<\/p>\n Five of the group subsequently \u2060changed their minds and decided to return home, leaving only Pasandideh and Ramezanisadeh in Australia.<\/p>\n The duo began training with the A-League Women\u2019s team Brisbane Roar last month.<\/p>\n \u201cAt \u2060this stage, our primary focus is on our safety, our health and beginning the process \u2060of rebuilding our lives,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are \u2060elite athletes, and it remains our dream to continue our sporting careers here in Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n Concerns over the Iranian players\u2019 safety surfaced after several players did not \u200csing the national anthem at an Asian Cup match, with Iranian state TV labelling them \u201cwartime traitors\u201d.<\/p>\n The rest of the team arrived \u200chome \u200cin Iran last month via the Turkish border after a fraught return journey from Australia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The two Iran footballers who stayed in Australia following the Asian Cup say they want to rebuild lives in \u2018safety\u2019. Published On 17 Apr 202617 Apr 2026 Iranian women \u200cfootball players Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramezanisadeh have thanked the \u2060Australian government \u2060for offering a \u201csafe haven\u201d and said they wished to resume their sporting careers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
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