Comments made by an Iranian state television host about the country’s women’s national team during their performance at the Asian Cup soccer game had a psychological impact on the players and prompted some to seek asylum in Australia, Iran coach Marziyeh Jafari said.
The tournament, hosted by Australia, began just as the United States and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran, killing the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ali Khamenei, Reuters reports.
After the national team decided not to sing the Iranian national anthem before their first match against South Korea, TV host Mohammad Reza Shahbazi called them “war traitors” and demanded severe punishment for them.
In a statement posted by the Football Federation of Iran (FFIRI) on its Telegram page, which has since been deleted, Jafari said:
“Our girls were affected in the first game by the difficult atmosphere that was created…
However, a bigger mistake was made by those who did not understand the atmosphere at home and called for arms against the daughters of this country.
It had a psychological impact on our players and we suffered the consequences.
I’m sure that if that atmosphere hadn’t been created, none of our players would have stayed in Australia,” she added, referring to the host’s comments.
Australia this week granted humanitarian visas to five Iranian players who sought asylum during the tournament.
Two more members of the national team were granted asylum on Wednesday, and one decided to return to Iran.
“At several stages the Australian police called in the players and sat down with them privately to persuade them to stay, influenced by the political atmosphere that had developed.
Fortunately, most of the team members answered in the negative. Even Mohaddeseh Zolfi, who responded positively, soon changed her mind and, God willing, will come to Iran with the team.
Rumors about Golnoosh Khosravi and Afsaneh Chatrenoor are also not true at all, and they are now with us in Malaysia and we will leave for Iran soon,” said Jafari.
(Vijesti.ba)
