source : the age
The two female footballers from Iran who courageously took on Tehran before seeking asylum in Australia have broken their silence, saying they have no regrets about standing up to the Islamic Republic’s brutal regime.
Speaking exclusively to 60 Minutes six months after they and their teammates refused to sing Iran’s national anthem at the Asian Cup on the Gold Coast, Atefeh Ramezanisadeh and Fatemeh Pasandideh – who go by Ati and Pasand – have recently been granted Australian citizenship.
Now finally safe, the duo have shared the inside story of how they triumphed over tyranny.
Arriving in Australia in late February – just weeks after Iranian authorities slaughtered tens of thousands during widespread anti-government protests – the team, known as The Lionesses, had been explicitly warned against any acts of disloyalty.
Yet with the world watching as they took the field in Queensland, Ati, Pasand and their teammates made the extraordinary decision to stand in solidarity with those killed and remain silent as their national song played.
“We just wanted to stand with our people,” Pasand said. “I was scared at times, but I just tried to do what was right, and to say that no one should be killed just for protesting.”
Ati said her decision to not sing was done knowing full well the act of defiance could mean a matter of life and death.
“I wanted to sing the anthem with pride and from my heart but because of the situation in Iran, I really couldn’t do it. At that moment, the only thing that gave me peace and a clear conscience was not singing it.”
The backlash was immediate. Iran’s state broadcaster released a video branding the women traitors and demanding they be punished. Pasand said she knew that was no empty threat and feared the reality back home would be “even worse” than the threats made by the broadcaster.
Watching closely from Canberra was Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke. War had erupted in Iran days after the team’s arrival in Australia, already sparking safety concerns within the federal government. But Burke said it was Tehran’s furious reaction to the protest that proved to be the “volcanic moment”, leaving no doubt about the urgent need to protect the Iranian players.
“It was at that point that I knew we couldn’t end up in a situation where these women played all their games, got to the airport, left, and we’d never found a way of checking if they wanted to stay,” Burke told 60 Minutes.
But finding a way to get a message to the women was no easy feat, with Iranian minders watching the players’ every move.
Burke said the opportunity came on March 8, as the women came from the field after their third and final match against the Philippines.
“There were the tiniest interactions with some of our officials where we just said, ‘If you want to seek protection from Australia, we’re open to have that conversation with you’. And the seed was planted.”
Australian officials were able to further discuss possibilities to stay with some of the players in a secret midnight meeting in the foyer of their Gold Coast hotel.
Ati said the enormity of the decision to leave their loved ones in Iran and begin a new life in a strange country or return home and face the consequences was an agonising choice.
“We were under so much stress. We didn’t know if we were doing the right thing. We were terrified and anxious – it was a mix of feelings,” she said.
“And the night we made the decision, none of us slept until 5am.”
At lunchtime the next day, Ati, Pasand and three other players managed to indicate to Australian Federal Police officers waiting in the hotel lobby that they had made up their mind.
The players’ escape from team officials was co-ordinated by the AFP, who took the women to a safe house where, later that evening, Burke granted emergency humanitarian visas to the five Iranian women.
Pasand recalls feeling “in complete shock” at the time and worried about whether she had made the right decision.
“The team was like my family and I felt like I was leaving them. I was worried about what would happen to them and to me,” she said.
Two other women would also seek asylum in the days that followed, but one by one those who had opted to stay changed their minds until only Ati and Pasand remained.
Burke said enormous pressure was being placed on the players’ families by the Iranian authorities, something he said Australia had no control over.
“We couldn’t keep their families safe,” he said. “And the pressure that I could never do anything about was the pressure that they might receive over the phone. You can’t imagine what that would be like. Where there’s an outcome that is so good for you that carries such grave risk for your family and for the people you love.”
Ati says her family was also visited by Iranian authorities and given internet access so they could contact her and request she come home. Despite knowing she might never see her family again, she stood firm.
“The fear grew, the stress got worse and we felt more alone than ever. I kept questioning if staying was right but in the end I am glad I stood by my decision,” Ati said.
Six months on, Ati and Pasand said they are doing their best to start new lives in Australia and are enjoying newfound freedoms they once could only dream of.
The pair are training with Brisbane-based club Wynnum Wolves and have ambitions to one day play professional football again.
But their thoughts are never far away from the family they left behind and their fellow Lionesses who returned to Iran.
“I miss my teammates and I hope they’re doing well,” Pasand says.
As the war rages on in their homeland they can only hope to one day return to a free Iran.
But Pasand remains optimistic that change in her homeland will happen.
“The only thing I believe is that brutality will never last forever.”
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