New details have emerged after players of the Iranian women's national football team were forced to escape from a hotel in Australia.
At the start of their Asian Cup campaign, the Iranian women's football team opted not to sing the national anthem before their first match of the tournament.
Having lost against the likes of South Korea, Australia and the Philippines, Iran finished bottom of Group A.
Usually, the team would travel back to their home country but as reported by ESPN, there were fears that 'the team could face persecution' if they returned to Iran.
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There were also fears that the team could even face the death penalty upon returning to Iran.
Now, it has been confirmed that five of the players had been granted visas to stay in Australia.
As per Sky News, Anthony Albanese said: "Australians have been moved by the plight of these brave women. They are safe here and they should feel at home here.
"Once it was made clear these women wanted assistance, the Australian federal police moved them to a safe location where they remain."
According to Reuters, the players granted asylum were Ghanbari, Zahra Sarbali Alishah, Mona Hamoudi, Atefeh Ramezanizadeh and Fatemeh Pasandideh.
The report stated that the five players were 'moved to a safe location by the Australian Federal Police on Monday evening'.
Australia's Interior Minister Tony Burke stated that they 'remain under protection' at the safe location.
It has been revealed that immigration officials completed the process for the players' visas at around 1:30am.
Burke said: "There's been a good police presence at different points and we just made sure that opportunity was there.
"Once everything had been signed off last night, there were lots of photos, lots of celebrating, and then a spontaneous outcry of ‘Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi’."
He continued: "These women are great athletes, great people, and they're going to feel very much at home in Australia."
Topics: Football
Marcus Chan