Australia granted asylum to five members of the Iranian women’s football team who were visiting the country for a tournament when the Iran war began, a government minister said Tuesday.

The announcement followed days of urging by Iranian groups in Australia and by US President Donald Trump for the Australian government to help the women who had not spoken publicly about a wish to claim asylum. The team drew speculation and news coverage in Australia when players didn’t sing the Iranian anthem before their first match.

Early on Tuesday, police officers transported five of the women from their hotel in Gold Coast, Australia, “to a safe location” after they made asylum requests. There, they met Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke and the processing of their humanitarian visas was finalised, the minister told reporters in Brisbane.

“I don’t want to begin to imagine how difficult that decision is for each of the individual women, but certainly last night it was joy, it was relief,” said Burke, who posted photos on social media of the women smiling and clapping as he signed documents. “People were very excited about embarking on a life in Australia.”

The women granted asylum were happy that their names and pictures were being published, he said. Burke said the players wanted to make clear that they were “not political activists”. Iranian state TV said the country’s football federation asked international soccer bodies to review what it called Trump’s “direct political interference in football”, warning that such remarks could disrupt the 2026 World Cup, which begins in North America in June.

Naghmeh Danai said she was invited as a migration agent and member of the Iranian-Australian community to visit the women at a hotel on Monday night and to reassure them about what was available to them in Australia.

“I told them that if you accept this offer, you will have a great future here. You will have more respect. You won’t be under a lot of suppression that you have been in your country. And they were thrilled,” Danai said.

“At the same time, it’s understandable that it was a very hard decision for them to make when they have family back home and when they just came here to compete,” he added.

The Iranian team arrived in Australia for the Women’s Asian Cup last month, before the Iran war began on February 28. The team was knocked out of the tournament over the weekend and faced the prospect of returning to a country under bombardment. Iran’s head coach Marziyeh Jafari said on Sunday that the players “want to come back to Iran as soon as we can”. An official squad list named 26 players, plus Jafari and other coaches. Burke said the offer of asylum was extended to the entire team.

Also read: Iran TV brands women football team ‘traitors’ over anthem silence