Australia national basketball team qualified for World Cup (Australian Twitter account)
Today, Saturday, Australia has decided to withdraw from an Asian qualifier match for the… world Cup in Basketball For the men, it was due to take place in Iran next week after a risk assessment amid concerns for player safety.
According to the previously prepared schedule, the Australian national team was due to play their Iranian counterparts in Tehran next Tuesday, but the Australian FA decided not to play that match, having secured qualification for the World Cup earlier, beating Kazakhstan 97-50 .
“We have carried out a comprehensive risk assessment in cooperation with the relevant authorities and as a result, we will not be sending any teams to Iran at this time,” Football Australia said in an official statement.
Iran has seen a wave of protests after the young woman’s death Mahsa AminiOn September 16, after being arrested for allegedly violating the country’s strict women’s dress code.
In earlier statements to the ‘Melbourne Herald Sun’ newspaper in Kazakhstan, Australian national team star Dian Vasilievich said the national team players supported the decision and added: “Frankly, we are glad we didn’t play Iran in the light of the ongoing chaos and protests.”
He added: “As much as we all wanted to play another match for our country, the security and peace of mind was not available to us, so the Australian Football Association made the right choice.”
Asian champions Australia have attended all but one of the last 13 World Cups, knowing the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia will host the tournament next year.
The Australian Boomers were scheduled to travel to Iran for a FIBA World Cup qualifier on November 15. Basketball Australia has conducted a thorough risk assessment in cooperation with the relevant authorities and as a result we will not be sending any teams to Iran at this time.
— Basketball Australia (@BasketballAus) November 11, 2022
