{"id":238520,"date":"2026-08-06T13:56:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T13:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/238520\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T13:56:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T13:56:12","slug":"two-iranian-female-footballers-granted-australian-citizenship-after-protest-iran-womens-football-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/238520\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Iranian female footballers granted Australian citizenship after protest | Iran women’s football team"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two former Iranian footballers said on Thursday they were \u201cproud\u201d to have been granted Australian citizenship after being called traitors at home for refusing to sing the national anthem<\/a> before a game.<\/p>\n

Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramezanisadeh were members of a group of seven from Iran\u2019s delegation who asked for Australia\u2019s protection after the high-profile protest during the women\u2019s Asian Cup in March.<\/p>\n

Their demands for protection were an embarrassment for Iran\u2019s leaders but were lauded by the US president, Donald Trump, but five later changed their minds and returned home. Pasandideh and Ramezanisadeh stayed, however, and were granted Australian citizenship at a ceremony on Wednesday, overseen by the minister for home affairs, Tony Burke.<\/p>\n

\u201cYesterday was a truly special and unforgettable day for me. I feel proud and deeply grateful to become an Australian citizen,\u201d Ramezanisadeh said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter everything we\u2019ve been through and all the challenges we faced, this moment means more than words can express,\u201d Pasandideh added.<\/p>\n

A week after seeking asylum, the pair were pictured smiling and training with the Australian club Brisbane Roar, who on Wednesday congratulated them. \u201cWhat they have been through since February is more than most people deal with in a lifetime,\u201d a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo see them arrive at this point is something everyone here at Brisbane Roar is glad to have had a small part in. Queensland is their home now. If they ever want to pull on a training top and come back out with us, the door will always stay open.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The plight of the rest of the team remains unclear since their return to Iran.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two former Iranian footballers said on Thursday they were \u201cproud\u201d to have been granted Australian citizenship after being…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238521,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[34],"class_list":["post-238520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-iran","tag-iran"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/117048913939069071","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238520\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}