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Former U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe spoke out in support of the Iranian women’s soccer team amid the players’ trials and tribulations over the last few weeks while competing in Australia.
The Iranian women’s soccer team was in Australia earlier this month to compete in the Women’s Asian Cup. Players were seen refusing to sing their country’s national anthem as the U.S. and Israel launched a joint military campaign on the Iranian regime. The players were dubbed “wartime traitors” by an Iranian broadcaster for their decisions during the tournament.
Australian officials then raced to try to get the players asylum in the country. At least two players stayed in Australia while the rest of the team made it back to Iran.
Rapinoe praised the “bravery and courage” of the women.
“I’m just thinking about this in the context of, like, the immense pressure that these young adults and these young women are under to make a decision like this,” she said on the “A Touch More” podcast. “Like, the incredible courage and bravery it would take knowing what that could potentially mean for their family back home. The bravery and courage to protest the national anthem, basically in protest of the Iranian regime and not singing the national anthem during a match. The stress and uncertainty they’re facing – their family, their loved ones. What does that all mean for back home?
“I, of course, fully support their decisions to seek asylum and seek a better life and to try to escape an incredibly oppressive regime in that situation. I don’t know what’s going on with them and why some of them left and however that is. I hope the ones that returned home have done so under their own free will and choice and that their families are safe, that they’re safe and their friends are safe. I hope the ones that have chosen to stay feel a sense of peace and hope about a potential for a new life in Australia or otherwise.
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Rapinoe added that she was “in awe of their courage.”
The former U.S. soccer star faced scrutiny for not speaking out as the saga was unfolding in the country. Piers Morgan was among those who labeled Rapinoe as “hypocritical.”
“The silence over this from Rapinoe, and so many supposed ‘feminists’ like her, is so telling, damning, and hypocritical,” he wrote in a social media post. “They’d rather campaign for biological men to wreck women’s sport than campaign for these heroic young sportswomen to help save their lives.”
She didn’t address her critics in her latest podcast episode with Sue Bird.
Initially, seven of the Iranian women’s soccer players accepted asylum but turned around and declined the opportunity at the last minute. Two players who stayed were seen training with one of the country’s premier clubs last week.
The Australian government faced criticism for not working fast enough to get to the players.
“We ended up with an outcome that is certainly far from ideal,” Graham Thom, an advocacy coordinator for the Refugee Council of Australia, told The Associated Press.
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“Hopefully the two who are remaining get the protection they need, but we just hope that those who have returned are also safe.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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