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Former Iranian wrestler Sardar Pashaei, like many, feels concern about the Iranian women’s soccer players who are returning to their home country after not standing for the national anthem and being offered asylum by Australia.
Pashei, who won the 1998 World Youth Championship, knows how athletes who protest are treated in Iran, and he especially knows how female athletes are treated there.
“If you are a woman, you have a different layer of discrimination. You know, so it’s a sexual harassment. It’s forcing you to wear something that you don’t want. And also, as a woman, you are banned from many sports,” Pashaei told Fox News Digital.
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Pashaei has seen close friends who are female athletes face this discrimination and are pursued by the regime.
“I know Soheila Farahani, she was a captain of the national volleyball team. She was sentenced to 74 lashes because there was a picture of her without hijab went public. So, this is the kind of example of the discrimination that they’re facing,” he said.
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“Shaqaiq, one of my good friends who was a captain of handball team … she was under a lot of pressure. And now I think she lives in a country that she does not want to make it public because of her safety. Because the Islamic regime really went after her, even outside of the country, in European soil to bring her back.”
Three of the six Iranian women’s soccer players who accepted asylum in Australia are returning to Iran. Tina Kordrostami, a councilor for the Australian City of Ryde, told Fox News Channel’s “Fox Report With Jon Scott” Saturday that the athletes are facing threats against their families.
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“I know families have even been detained. I know family members are missing. One thing I really would like for people in the West to understand is that Iranians within the country have in many ways given up on the West, and they are only relying on one another to survive this regime,” Kordrostami said. “Coercion is being used here, intimidation tactics.”
Pashaei says he wouldn’t be surprised if the players have “a forced confession.”
“So, the regime wants to say they’re loyal to their government. This was all so-called playing a game of the enemies. And I am sure they will be under pressure, investigated,” Pashaei said.
Pashaei remembers when he was competing with the difficulties that came with representing Iran under the Ayatollah.
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Iranian players pose for a team photo ahead of a Women’s Asian Cup soccer match against the Philippines in Robina, Australia, March 8, 2026. (Dave Hunt/AAPImage via AP, File)
“They always send the security people alongside with the team. They watch you. They wanna keep the presence of the regime right beside you. So, you feel that always,” he said.
“I remember when we were traveling, the members of intelligence agencies were walking behind our doors overnight, so we don’t go out. As soon as we went to the restaurant, they went there, took all of the alcoholic beverages, you know, pork food away from us.”
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