Iran confiscates assets of women’s football captain after Australia return

Iran has seized property belonging to the captain of its national women’s football team, Zahra Ghanbari, despite earlier assurances that she would not be punished for returning from Australia, according to foreign media.

On March 2, the women’s national team stood silently during the playing of their anthem before an Asia Cup match against South Korea.

The gesture led Iranian media outlets to label the players "wartime traitors." One footballer reportedly received a voice note from her mother saying: "Don't come [back to Iran] they'll kill you."

Another message, secretly sent out of Iran by a player’s relatives, warned the team: "You need to stay."

Among international figures who reacted was US President Donald Trump, who said the players "will most likely be killed" if they returned to Iran.

Australia subsequently offered asylum to the squad. Ghanbari and several teammates applied for asylum in March but later reversed their decision.

After Ghanbari returned to Iran, state media framed her move as an act of patriotism, while officials publicly guaranteed that neither she nor her teammates would face any consequences.

By Jeyhun Aghazada