'They are taking our girls hostage': Iran football chief hits out after players granted Australian asylum

Iran's football boss has accused the Australian government of "taking our girls hostage" after several players sought asylum following the Asian Cup.

At least six players, plus one staff member, from the national women's team are believed to have stayed in Australia to avoid returning home to Iran where war is raging.

The players were threatened on Iranian state television last week, accused of treason after a silent protest in which they refused to sing the national anthem before an Asian Cup game.

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In their third and final game on Sunday night the players sang the anthem and saluted, although many believe they only did so under threat of violence.

Protestors urged the government to step in and they did so on Monday night, intervening to grant asylum to five players who escaped the team's hotel. At least one more player and one staff member are believed to have remained in Australia when the team got on a flight in Sydney on Tuesday night.

It came after US president Donald Trump told Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese to act.

Now, Iran's football chief Mehdi Taj hit out at the intervention and cast doubt over the men's team competing in the FIFA World Cup later this year, with all three of their group games to be played held in America.

"If the World Cup is like this, who in their right mind would send their national team to a place like this?" Taj said on Iranian state television.

"The US president himself... tweeted two tweets about a women's team (saying) 'we welcome them and that they should become refugees'. He threatened Australia... How could one be optimistic about the World Cup that is supposed to be held in America?

"After the game, unfortunately, the Australian police came and intervened, removing one or two of the players from the hotel, according to the news we have.

"They are taking our girls hostage... They did a terrible thing."

Taj accused Trump of hypocrisy given strikes on Iran have killed many civilians, including one which reportedly hit a girls' school.

Iranian Society of Queensland vice president Hadi Karimi confirmed the five players' escape but could not disclose exactly how the group got away.

Ellie Carpenter was one of the first Australian players to share her thoughts on the situation, declaring that she hopes Iran's female athletes "are OK and safe".

Matildas midfielder Clare Wheeler shared a similar message to reporters on Tuesday afternoon.

"My thoughts are with the team and obviously the girls who have decided that they would like to seek asylum," she said.

"It is obviously a really complex situation. But it is great that football, with the growth of the women's game, can shed light on these issues.

"At the end of the day, it is paramount that their health and wellbeing is protected."

Wheeler recognised that the Matildas can not do much more than "trust in the AFC and the government to help protect" the wellbeing and safety of the Iran players.

After losing 2-0 to the Philippines on Sunday, the Iran team bus was surrounded by hundreds of protesters who wanted the vehicle to be stopped and for the players to be provided security by police.

A source in the Iranian-Australian community planned to ask the Australian Federal Police to intervene, seeking urgent protection for the women.

The Iran women's team was threatened last week after refusing to sing the national anthem before an Asian Cup game.

The spectre of war has hung heavy over the Iran team since the Middle East nation was bombed by America and Israel, before launching retaliatory strikes last week.

The attack came as the women's football team was flying Down Under to compete at the tournament.

Players have avoided speaking about it in the days since, for fear of retribution from the Islamic regime. Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei was killed in the strikes but the conflict remains ongoing.

On Thursday night Iran's women's team took a slightly different approach, saluting while the anthem played. Some players sang.

On Sunday night the players sang, although protesters claim they only did so under threat of violence.

On Friday morning, Iranian state TV presenter Mohammad Reza Shahbazi issued a threat to the players.

"Let me just say one thing: traitors during wartime must be dealt with more severely," Shahbazi said, according to social media platform X's translation.

"Anyone who takes a step against the country under war conditions must be dealt with more severely.

"This is no longer just a symbolic protest move or the like. In a war situation, in this state of affairs, where they strike and martyr students and seven-to-eight-year-old girls in schools, where they attack the neonatal ward of a hospital, where they hit stadiums.

"For you to go there and not sing the national anthem; this is the pinnacle of dishonour and lack of patriotism. Both the people and the officials should treat these individuals as wartime traitors, not as if they just had a protest or performed a symbolic act.

"The stigma of dishonour and betrayal must remain on their foreheads, and separately they must be dealt with properly."

The message is a chilling threat given treason can be punishable by death in Iran.

- with Alyssa Bone