Members of the Iranian women’s national football team landed in Malaysia on Wednesday after their Asian Cup elimination and are awaiting a flight home as Iran‘s airspace remains closed amid US and Israeli strikes.

They were received in Kuala Lumpur by Iran’s ambassador to Malaysia, Valiollah Mohammadi, and are staying in a hotel while travel plans are finalized.

Anthem protest and asylum offer

Six players and one staff member remain in Australia after accepting humanitarian visas offered by the Australian government. Another player initially accepted Australia’s asylum offer but changed her mind at the last minute.

The team was offered asylum after some players remained silent during the Iranian national anthem before their opening match — a gesture that led Iranian state television to call them “wartime traitors.”

Fearing possible persecution if they returned home, the Australian government offered the squad humanitarian visas.

Some members, officials told the Associated Press, were not granted visas — reportedly because of ties to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

After the opening game, the players sang the anthem in subsequent matches but have not publicly explained their actions or shared their views.

‘Come home’ — Iran’s foreign minister

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baqaei, has called the team to “come home.”

“Don’t worry — Iran awaits you with open arms,” Baqaei wrote on X.

Meanwhile, Iran’s governing football body says Australia held the players as “hostages” and coerced them to abandon their country.

Rights groups have long accused Iranian authorities of pressuring athletes abroad by threatening relatives or seizing property if they defect or speak out against the Islamic Republic.

Team members who chose to stay in Australia, Burke said, would not face a legal battle for permanent residency and would receive health, housing and other support in the country.

Edited by: Richard Connor, Alex Berry

Iran’s sports minister said Wednesday that Iran would not take part in the 2026 World Cup, citing airstrikes carried out in the country by the tournament co-host, the US, alongside Israel.

“Since this corrupt government assassinated our leader, we have no conditions under which we can participate in the World Cup,” the minister, Ahmad Donyamali, said on state television.

“Our children are not safe,” he added.

Federation chief floats boycott, cites Australia precedent

It is not yet clear whether the decision is final. But Mehdi Taj, the president of the Iranian Football Federation, has raised the prospect of a boycott.

“What reasonable person would send their national team to the US if the World Cup is going to be as political as it was in Australia?” he told the Isna news agency.

He pointed to the Asian Cup in Australia, where five players from Iran’s women’s football team were granted asylum after refusing to sing the national anthem before their first match, fearing persecution if they returned home.

FIFA’s president, Gianni Infantino, said on Instagram that US President Donald Trump told him during a meeting on Tuesday that Iran’s team “is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States” despite the war.

Trump had previously said “I really don’t care” whether Iran participates in the World Cup or not.

Iran scheduled for matches in US cities

Iran is among the 48 nations qualified for this year’s World Cup, to be co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Iran, who dominated the Asian qualifying rounds, was the only nation missing from the FIFA planning summit held last week in Atlanta, US.

The team is scheduled to play on June 15 against New Zealand, then face Belgium and Egypt later in the five-week tournament. All three matches are set to take place in US cities.

According to FIFA rules, any team that withdraws from the tournament “no later than 30 days before the first match” will be fined at least 250,000 Swiss francs ($320,800, €277,049).

Sanctions may also include expelling the federation from future FIFA competitions and replacing the team with another country.

Edited by: Alex Berry

Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez is gearing up for fight number 69 after suffering just the third defeat of his career last year.

The Mexican icon was relieved of his undisputed super-middleweight world championship by Terence Crawford last year, his first loss at 168lbs and third overall after coming up short against Floyd Mayweather in 2013 and Dmitry Bivol in 2022.

With Crawford’s retirement taking a rematch off the table for Canelo, he has announced his return on a September card in Saudi Arabia, a fight that boxing powerbroker Turki Alalshikh says will come with a world title.

In an interview with Bowks talking Bouts, Christian Mbilli – who was elevated from interim to full champion when Crawford was stripped of the belt – made it clear he wants to be the man in the opposite corner.

“For me, my goal right now is to fight Canelo because I was [the] long time number one WBC challenger. Number one challenger, number one on WBC for Canelo. Now I have to show that I am the number one of the division.”

Mbilli fought on the Canelo–Crawford undercard, drawing with Crawford stablemate Lester Martinez to retain the belt. The Cameroon-born Frenchman said, in the same interview, that he intends to rematch Martinez down the line.

The fight with Alvarez has little to no obstacles and plenty of weight behind it: Turki Alalshikh, Canelo’s good standing with the WBC and his number one ranking, and it being undoubtedly the most lucrative option for Mbilli. If the Mexican wants to test himself, the opportunity is there.

Champion flat jockey Colin Keane gave Ireland a fifth winner on Ladies Day at Cheltenham on Wednesday.

Keane and Noel Meade teamed up to win the Grade 1 Weatherbys Champion Bumper – the final race on a seven-race programme – with The Mourne Rambler (15/2).

Owned by the Pollys, the five-year-old son of Well Chosen, raced to a two-and-three-quarter length success, on Keane’s first Cheltenham Festival ride.

Classic winning rider 🤝 Champion Flat jockey 🤝 Champion Bumper winner

Colin Keane guides The Mourne Rambler to victory in the @weatherbysltd Champion Bumper @tuvastables 🏆 pic.twitter.com/X5HPjNlzz3

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— Racing TV (@RacingTV) March 11, 2026

English-trained horses filled the places as Mets Ta Ceinture (14/1) for Dan and Harry Skelton finished in the runner-up spot. Long time race leader, Bass Hunter (8/1), was a short-head further back in third place for Chris and Freddie Gordon.

Colin Keane emulates Jamie Spencer as a Champion Flat rider to win the @weatherbysltd Champion Bumper 👏 pic.twitter.com/sJSQzwUyZq

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) March 11, 2026

Keane emulates his fellow Irishman Jamie Spencer as a flat jockey to win the Cheltenham bumper.

Reacting to his win, the 31-year-old multiple Group 1-winning rider admitted:

“Turning for home I thought, if we got a bit of room [we could win] – the one thing he was going to do was stay, and he had a bit of pace. I though he’d be in the three then.

“The crowds are a different level to what we’re used to. I know Ascot would be busy, but this is some atmosphere here. It was brilliant.

“When Noel [Meade, winning trainer] rang me two weeks ago, it was an easy ‘Yes’ if I could get the licence sorted. I probably didn’t think enough of it, but it worked out well.”

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