From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, March 18, 2026
Iranian women’s soccer team crosses Turkish border to head home
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The Iranian women’s national soccer team members cross the Turkish border to travel to their home country, including several players who withdrew an asylum bid in Australia.
Seven members of the delegation had sought sanctuary in Australia last week after being branded “traitors” in Iran for refusing to sing the national anthem before their opening game at the Women’s Asian Cup. But five later changed their minds, including captain Zahra Ghanbari.
The team arrived in Istanbul yesterday evening from Oman, then flew to the eastern city of Igdir before traveling home overland.
Wearing Iranian national team tracksuits, the women could earlier be seen leaving the airport for the Gurbulak-Bazargan crossing, while lies about 100 kilometers (60 miles) to the southeast.
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.
In a post on X, Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the players and their support team were “children of the homeland, and the people of Iran embrace them.” He said by returning, they had “disappointed the enemies [of Iran] and did not surrender to deception and intimidation by anti-Iran elements.”
In the end, only two of the players remained in Australia.
The Times of Israel Community.