Iran Women’s National Team Captain Withdraws Asylum Request in Australia, Decides to Return Home

Iranian state media reported on Sunday that the captain of Iran’s women’s national football team, which recently participated in the Asian Cup in Australia, has withdrawn her asylum request, becoming the fifth member of the Iranian delegation to reverse such a decision.

According to Agence France-Presse, citing the Iranian state news agency IRNA, Zahra Ghanbari is expected to fly from Malaysia to Iran in the coming hours. Three players and a member of the technical staff had previously withdrawn their asylum requests in recent days and traveled to Malaysia.

Human rights organizations have repeatedly accused Iranian authorities of exerting pressure on athletes abroad, including by threatening their relatives or confiscating their property if they defect or make statements critical of the country.