ISTANBUL, March 18, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The Iranian women's national football 
team landed at Istanbul Airport on Tuesday after several members of the 
delegation withdrew their asylum bids in Australia and decided to return 
home.

Footage from Turkish news agency DHA showed the players, wearing Iranian 
national team tracksuits, walking through the arrivals area at Istanbul 
Airport.

The players arrived in Turkey via Oman and Kuala Lumpur, having left 
Australia where they were competing in the Asian Cup.

"I am missing my family," one of them told AFP on Monday at Kuala Lumpur 
Airport.

According to DHA, the players left Istanbul Airport under police escort and 
headed to a hotel in the city.

They will return to Iran on Wednesday, the Turkish news agency reported.

Seven members of the delegation had sought asylum in Australia last week 
after they were branded "traitors" at home for refusing to sing the national 
anthem at their opening Women's Asian Cup game.

Only two remain in Australia after the others changed their minds.

"The female football players and technical teams are children of the 
homeland, and the people of Iran embrace them," Iranian parliament speaker 
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on X on Wednesday.

He added that they had "disappointed the enemies (of the Islamic republic) 
and did not surrender to deception and intimidation by anti-Iran elements."

Rights groups have accused Tehran of pressuring athletes abroad by 
threatening relatives with the seizure of property if they defect or make 
statements against the Islamic republic.

Iranian authorities had previously accused Australia of pressuring the 
players to stay.

US President Donald Trump had also called on Australia to offer the women 
asylum.