The Iranian soccer team is a feelgood story that perfectly suits Trump

March 13, 2026 — 5:00am

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Imagine for a moment that the war in Iran broke out before the Asian Cup started, before the Iranian women’s soccer team had left for our shores. Imagine also that, a group of them had responded to that war in a way that angered the regime, such that the threat to their lives is the same as what they’re facing now. What would we say in that situation if the federal government decided to cancel their visas, fearing that once here, they might claim asylum?

This week, the Albanese government introduced a bill into parliament that would allow it to do exactly that. It even did so on the very same day it granted these women asylum. The latter was an enormously feelgood moment, all beaming smiles and national pride. The former went mostly unnoticed. And that means we’ll hardly notice the tension between them, or that the smiles were adorning something thoroughly exceptional. This week’s bill wasn’t news, partly because it’s just so routine: the resting pulse of our attitude to asylum seekers.

That pulse doesn’t quicken, even where several of the standard objections to asylum seekers don’t apply. The new bill targets people who already have visas; that is, people we’ve already cleared for arrival, whose documents are in order, who’ve passed whatever character tests we might have applied, and who can travel here perfectly safely. They’d be subject to whatever further........

© The Age