The Power of Community: How We Stood Beside Iran’s Brave Women Footballers

Iranian-Australians gathered in the Gold Coast stadium, proudly waving Lion and Sun flags.

In March 2026, Australia hosted the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026, one of the most significant international competitions in women’s football across Asia. The Iranian Women’s National Football Team participated in the tournament, playing its three group-stage matches on the Gold Coast in Queensland. Around a month before the tournament began, Lion and Sun Australia Network (LSAN), together with members of Queensland’s Iranian-Australian community, began a coordinated campaign to raise awareness and encourage Australians of Iranian heritage to attend the matches. Our aim was both to support the Iranian women footballers and to ensure that the Islamic Republic could not use an international sporting event to project an image of normality only weeks after the bloody crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran on 8 and 9 January. Across all three matches on the Gold Coast, hundreds of Iranian-Australians attended the stadiums, supported the players and proudly displayed Iran’s historic Lion and Sun flag.

What began as a community and advocacy initiative surrounding an international sporting event soon developed into a serious matter concerning the safety and future of the players. When the Islamic Republic’s official anthem was played, members of the Iranian team remained silent — an act that attracted significant attention in Australia and internationally. In the aftermath, media affiliated with the Islamic Republic launched harsh attacks against the women, with some branding them “traitors” at a time of conflict. This raised serious concerns about the potential consequences they could face upon returning to Iran. From that moment, the Iranian-Australian community’s support moved beyond the stadium and developed into a broader humanitarian, media and civic campaign.

In the critical days following the tournament, members of the Iranian-Australian community, and particularly the LSAN team, engaged extensively with the Australian media, the Federal Government, the Department of Home Affairs and relevant authorities. Efforts were also made to establish direct communication with the players and their families, ensuring they understood that, should they choose to remain in Australia, the Iranian-Australian community would stand beside them and that Australian authorities were aware of their circumstances. Ultimately, seven members of the Iranian delegation were given an opportunity to remain in Australia on humanitarian visas. Five, however, later returned to Iran amid serious concerns about pressure and threats directed towards their families. Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramazanizadeh were the two players who remained in Australia and began a new chapter of their lives here.

Several months later, this collective effort reached an extraordinary and deeply meaningful milestone. In August 2026, Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramazanizadeh formally became Australian citizens at a citizenship ceremony in Brisbane attended by Tony Burke, Australia’s Minister for Home Affairs. For Queensland’s Iranian-Australian community and Lion and Sun Australia Network, this moment represented far more than the presentation of two citizenship certificates. It reflected months of community solidarity, media engagement, advocacy with Australian institutions and practical support for two Iranian women facing an extraordinarily difficult decision about their futures. For us, this remains one of the clearest examples of what a united community can achieve — a journey that began with hundreds of Iranian-Australians standing together under the Lion and Sun flag in the stadiums of the Gold Coast, and concluded with our community standing beside two new Australian citizens in Brisbane.

Citizenship ceremony of Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramazanizadeh