Five Iranian women's footballers given asylum after Trump speaks with Australian PM

SYDNEY: Australia on Tuesday (Mar 10) agreed to provide visas to five of Iran's women's football team players to stay in the country after they sought asylum, fearing persecution in their home nation.

The announcement came after US President Donald Trump said he had spoken to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese about the Iranian women's football team in Australia following reports that the players had requested asylum.

The remaining players are in a hotel on the Gold Coast, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told a news conference, adding that he had also offered the other team members the chance to stay in Australia.

"I was able to tell five members of the Iranian women's soccer team that they are welcome to stay in Australia, that they are safe here, and they should feel at home here," Burke told reporters.

The Iranian women's football team are in Australia for the Asian Cup tournament.

Iran's semi-official Fars news agency said five players in Australia for the Asian Cup secretly left the team hotel with Australian police, and media reports said they were seeking Australian government assistance after "breaking free".

Having initially posted on social media that Australia was "making a terrible humanitarian mistake" by allowing the team to be sent back home, Trump said in a later post that he had spoken to Albanese and that the Australian leader was "doing a very good job having to do with this rather delicate situation".

Trump said five members of the Iran squad "have already been taken care of, and the rest are on their way.

"Some, however, feel they must go back because they are worried about the safety of their families, including threats to those family members if they don’t return," he said.

The Iranian