Threats towards the Iranian national team In February 2026, after a number of players resigned from the
Iran women's national football team and refereeing organization following
the massacres in the country, the
Iranian Football Federation reportedly threatened them with multi-year bans from professional football activities, judicial action, and long prison sentences. In March 2026, after the Iran women's national football team players refused to sing the national anthem of the Islamic Republic as a form of silent protest ahead of their Women's Asian Cup opener against
South Korea, concerns grew for their safety following threats from Iranian state media. Ahead of the following match against Australia, the national team players were reportedly forced to sing the national anthem of the Islamic Republic of Iran, with threats to the players' family members if they did not. After the team's exit from the tournament on 8 March, members of the team gave what appeared to be
SOS hand signals from the bus as they were leaving, leading to protests and growing calls for Australia to offer the team refuge after the players were accused of being wartime traitors by Iranian state media for not singing the national anthem of the Islamic Republic in their opening game amid the
Iran war. On 9 March, five members of the Iranian women’s national football team –
Fatemeh Pasandideh,
Zahra Ghanbari,
Zahra Sarbali,
Atefeh Ramezanizadeh, and
Mona Hamoudi – left the team’s training camp in Australia and sought refuge due to fears of retaliation from Iranian authorities. On 10 March, US president
Donald Trump publicly urged the Australian government to grant asylum to the players, stating they could face persecution if they returned to Iran. It was reported that the women had been helped to escape by the
Australian Federal Police around 1:30 am, and had been granted humanitarian visas to stay in Australia.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke had been working with the AFP on the issue for some time, and Prime Minister
Anthony Albanese said that the team were safe in Australia.
Removal of Chen Kuei-jen Former
Chinese Taipei national football team coach
Chen Kuei-jen was removed during the match between the
Chinese Taipei and
India in
Sydney for leading fans to chant "
Taiwan Jiayou" ("Go Taiwan"), after refusing to follow officials who ordered him to only use Chinese Taipei as the use of Taiwan was considered "political". Despite this, following Chinese Taipei's victory, Chen continued the Taiwan chant with the players on their bus. Following this incident, Taiwanese politician Lee Po-yi stated that he would contact the
Ministry of Sports and the
Australia's Taipei representative office to demand an explanation from the organisers. Chinese Taipei has been the name used since 1979 to represent Taiwan following the
Nagoya Resolution to prevent sporting conflict with
China, but the name has become controversial in Taiwan as many citizens have voiced support for being internationally recognised as Taiwan. ==See also==