WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Two more members of the Iranian women’s soccer team were granted asylum in Australia before their teammates departed, the country’s Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Wednesday.
The pair has been reunited with five players who were granted humanitarian visas a day earlier, Burke told reporters in Canberra Wednesday. One of those in the later group was a player and the other a team staffer, Burke said, and both sought asylum before their teammates were transported to the airport.
The rest of the team’s departure from Sydney, Australia to return to Iran late Tuesday local time happened during fraught and outraged protest at the team’s hotel and at the airport, where Iranian Australians sought to prevent the women from leaving the country, citing fears for their safety in Iran.