Australia on Monday agreed to grant visas to five Iranian female footballers to stay in the country after US President Donald Trump urged Canberra not to send them back to Tehran over concerns for their safety, Reuters reported.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told reporters that other team members were welcome to stay in Australia.
The Iranian women's football team arrived in Australia last month to participate in the Asian Cup tournament, even before the start of the war in Iran.
The team crashed out of the tournament at the weekend and had to return to their country, which has been under bombardment.
The statement by Australian authorities came after days of calls from Iranian groups in Australia and US President Donald Trump have urged the Australian government to offer help to the women who have not spoken publicly about their desire to seek asylum. The team sparked widespread speculation and media coverage in Australia after the athletes failed to sing the Iranian anthem before their first match, the AP reported. Early on Thursday morning, Australian Federal Police officers transported five of the women from their Gold Coast hotel to a "safe place" after they submitted asylum applications. They met with Burke there and their humanitarian visas have been finalised, the minister told reporters in Brisbane hours later. "I don't want to imagine how difficult this decision is for each of the women, but certainly last night she was happy, it was a relief," said Burke, who posted photos on social media of the women smiling and clapping as he signed the documents.