Women soccer players leave Afghanistan on evacuation flight
3 years, 4 months ago

Women soccer players leave Afghanistan on evacuation flight

Associated Press  

KABUL, Afghanistan — Players from Afghanistan women’s national soccer team had an “important victory” on Tuesday when they were among a group of more than 75 people evacuated on a flight from Kabul. Global soccer players’ union FIFPRO thanked the Australian government for making the evacuation of players, team officials and family members possible, with work continuing to help more leave Afghanistan. Players had been advised this month to delete social media posts and photographs of them with the team to help avoid reprisals since the United States-backed Afghanistan government fell. “The last few days have been extremely stressful but today we have achieved an important victory,” former team captain Khalida Popal said.

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History of this topic

How women’s football in Afghanistan redefined itself
1 month, 3 weeks ago

How women’s football in Afghanistan redefined itself

Live Mint  

One stifling afternoon in the early 2000s in Kabul, Afghanistan, violence came to the football haven Khalida Popal and her friends had conjured for themselves on the schoolground. It is just one of the harrowing pictures Popal paints in her recently released memoir, My Beautiful Sisters: A Story of Courage, Hope and the Afghan Women’s Football Team. View Full Image …

Afghan women cricketers seek ICC help to form refugee team
6 months, 1 week ago

Afghan women cricketers seek ICC help to form refugee team

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Afghan women cricketers have asked …

Afghan women cricketers ask for international support for a refugee team
6 months, 1 week ago

Afghan women cricketers ask for international support for a refugee team

Associated Press  

SYDNEY — A group of Afghan women’s cricketers has again approached the sport’s international governing body asking for backing to reform as a refugee team based in Australia. Many have continued playing in domestic competitions in Australia but haven’t had access to international cricket, despite ICC regulations requiring all test-playing members to support men’s and women’s national teams. Through this …

FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023: Afghan players watch Morocco’s team practice, hoping to get their chance
1 year, 5 months ago

FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023: Afghan players watch Morocco’s team practice, hoping to get their chance

The Hindu  

Over the next month, 32 national football teams will compete across Australia and New Zealand in the Women’s World Cup. “This is a huge chance for the Moroccan team to show the world that Muslim women in every single country can participate,” Afghanistan’s Farida Mohammadi said. “We’re living in a modern era, and we don’t have to follow the old-school …

Afghan players watch Morocco’s team practice for Women’s World Cup, hoping to get their chance
1 year, 5 months ago

Afghan players watch Morocco’s team practice for Women’s World Cup, hoping to get their chance

Associated Press  

MELBOURNE, Australia — Over the next month, 32 national soccer teams will compete across Australia and New Zealand in the Women’s World Cup. “This is a huge chance for the Moroccan team to show the world that Muslim women in every single country can participate,” said Afghan player Farida, who wanted to use one name. “We’re living in a modern …

Afghan Olympians resettle in Australia to start afresh
2 years, 4 months ago

Afghan Olympians resettle in Australia to start afresh

Associated Press  

SYDNEY — Olympic sprinter Kimia Yousofi has arrived in Australia to start afresh just over a year after carrying the Afghan flag into the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Games, competing in the 100-meters, and then having to watch from afar as the Taliban regained control of her country. The Australian Olympic Committee on Wednesday said Yousofi and Asian Games …

‘No domestic league, no women’s football, Afghanistan's future is uncertain’, says men's coach Anoush Dastgir
2 years, 6 months ago

‘No domestic league, no women’s football, Afghanistan's future is uncertain’, says men's coach Anoush Dastgir

Firstpost  

Kolkata: The images of the brawl between Indian and Afghanistan footballers during an AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers group match recently were no different from that of any other fight in a match that helps sell headlines and creates social media buzz. No Afghan Premier League — an eight-team league founded in 2010 — match has taken place since 2020, leaving …

Afghan Women Footballers Train in Australia After Fleeing Taliban Rule
2 years, 7 months ago

Afghan Women Footballers Train in Australia After Fleeing Taliban Rule

News 18  

Eight months after fleeing Kabul as the Taliban swept to power in Afghanistan, Farida trains at a suburban Melbourne pitch, dreaming of one day playing soccer for her country while lamenting the fate of fellow women players back home. “But in Afghanistan, after the Taliban took control, everything has been turned upside down.” Girls and women’s sport has been crushed …

Afghan Women Players Make Football Debut in Australia
2 years, 8 months ago

Afghan Women Players Make Football Debut in Australia

News 18  

Players from Afghanistan’s national women’s football team competed in a local league match in Australia on Sunday for the first time since fleeing the hardline Islamist Taliban. “We fled the country but we are still thinking of our country and we are still working for our victory for our country.” Australia helped dozens of Afghan national women’s team players and …

An Afghan girls soccer team rebelled to play the game they love. Now they're refugees
3 years ago

An Afghan girls soccer team rebelled to play the game they love. Now they're refugees

NPR  

An Afghan girls soccer team rebelled to play the game they love. Now they're refugees Enlarge this image toggle caption Claire Harbage/NPR Claire Harbage/NPR LISBON, Portugal — The teenage girls in the red jerseys and black hijabs huddle close on the chilly pitch in this soccer-crazy city and chant their team's name. Enlarge this image toggle caption Claire Harbage/NPR Claire …

Four months on, Afghanistan's women's national team are finding family and freedom on Australia's pitches
3 years ago

Four months on, Afghanistan's women's national team are finding family and freedom on Australia's pitches

ABC  

The heat sets in early – as it often does during Western Sydney summers. It's the final match day of the Afghan National Cup, a round-robin tournament run by the Australian Afghan Football Association in collaboration with local football organisations like Western Sydney Wanderers and Women Onside. It's also one of the first opportunities that several of Afghanistan's women's national …

Afghan women footballers: Safe and alive, but ‘traumatized,’ their future in the UK is still very uncertain
3 years, 1 month ago

Afghan women footballers: Safe and alive, but ‘traumatized,’ their future in the UK is still very uncertain

CNN  

London CNN — They are safe and alive, and have the prospect of new lives in the United Kingdom, but for 130 Afghan female football players and their families it’s an existence still full of uncertainty. “These girls have no refugee status,” Popal, who lives in Denmark after she was forced to flee her home country in 2011 in fear …

Afghan women soccer players flown to UK with Kardashian help
3 years, 1 month ago

Afghan women soccer players flown to UK with Kardashian help

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ …

Afghan girls’ soccer team lands in U.K., with help from Kim Kardashian West
3 years, 1 month ago

Afghan girls’ soccer team lands in U.K., with help from Kim Kardashian West

LA Times  

Players vie for the ball in the Kabul Women’s Premier League championship final in Afghanistan in 2014. Members of Afghanistan’s women’s youth development soccer team arrived in the U.K. early Thursday after being flown from Pakistan with the help of a New York rabbi, a British soccer club and Kim Kardashian West. Khalida Popal, a former captain of Afghanistan’s national …

Governments ‘must house’ Afghan female footballers and basketball players
3 years, 2 months ago

Governments ‘must house’ Afghan female footballers and basketball players

The Independent  

Sign up for the Independent Women email for the latest news, opinion and features Get the Independent Women email for free Get the Independent Women email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Governments around the world must accommodate female footballers and basketball players who …

FIFA says 57 more refugees evacuated from Afghanistan
3 years, 2 months ago

FIFA says 57 more refugees evacuated from Afghanistan

The Hindu  

The evacuation of a second group of 57 refugees from Afghanistan linked to women's football and basketball, comprising mainly women and children, has been completed after negotiations, world football's governing body FIFA said on Friday. There have been numerous evacuations since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan's capital Kabul on August 15 and announced a new government last month after …

Afghanistan female football players evacuated to Qatar
3 years, 2 months ago

Afghanistan female football players evacuated to Qatar

The Hindu  

Female football players were evacuated from Afghanistan on Thursday on a flight to Doha, the Qatari government said. “Around 100 footballers & their families including female players are on board,” tweeted Lolwah Al-Khater, Qatar's assistant foreign minister. Also around 100 footballers & their families including female players are on board pic.twitter.com/93ehot2urN — لولوة الخاطر Lolwah Alkhater October 14, 2021 Qatar …

Afghanistan women’s junior football team granted UK visas
3 years, 2 months ago

Afghanistan women’s junior football team granted UK visas

CNN  

CNN — Afghanistan’s women’s junior football team and their immediate families will be relocated to Britain from Pakistan “shortly” after being granted visas by the UK government. “We are working to finalise visas to the Afghan Women’s Development Team and look forward to welcoming them to the UK shortly,” a UK government spokesperson told CNN. On Saturday, former Afghanistan women’s …

Afghanistan girls soccer team given asylum in Portugal
3 years, 3 months ago

Afghanistan girls soccer team given asylum in Portugal

Associated Press  

The girls on Afghanistan’s national soccer team were anxious. The rescue mission, called Operation Soccer Balls, was coordinated with the Taliban through an international coalition of former U.S. military and intelligence officials, U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, U.S. allies, and humanitarian groups, said Nic McKinley, a CIA and Air Force veteran who founded Dallas-based DeliverFund, a nonprofit that’s secured housing for …

Afghan female footballers evade Taliban, reach Pakistan
3 years, 3 months ago

Afghan female footballers evade Taliban, reach Pakistan

The Hindu  

Thirty-two women football players from Afghanistan, who were facing threats from the Taliban, have reached Pakistan along with their families after the government issued emergency humanitarian visas to evacuate them, according to a media report on Wednesday. The footballers belonging to the national junior girls' team had been originally due to travel to Qatar, where Afghan refugees have been housed …

Afghan female youth football players reach Pakistan
3 years, 3 months ago

Afghan female youth football players reach Pakistan

The Hindu  

Players from Afghanistan's female youth football teams have arrived in Pakistan and will seek political asylum in third countries amid concern over the status of female athletes under the new Taliban government in Kabul. Some 81 people, including female players of several youth teams, their coaches and family members reached Pakistan through the Torkham border crossing, Umar Zia, a senior …

Afghanistan’s women’s soccer team knew it had to get out. ‘Burn your Jerseys’
3 years, 4 months ago

Afghanistan’s women’s soccer team knew it had to get out. ‘Burn your Jerseys’

Live Mint  

The first voice message was from a 16-year-old forward, knee-deep in a trench filled with sewage and panicking in the crowds swarming Hamid Karzai International Airport. It was from the team’s captain, who had been stuck in sewage for hours: “Tell us what to do!” Sleep-deprived and wearing the same clothes she had worn since the Taliban reached Kabul, Ms. …

Afghanistan girls football team 'devastated and hopeless' after Kabul bombing derails exit
3 years, 4 months ago

Afghanistan girls football team 'devastated and hopeless' after Kabul bombing derails exit

Firstpost  

An international effort to evacuate members of the Afghanistan national girls football team, along with dozens of family members and football federation staff, suffered a crushing setback last week after a suicide bombing at the Kabul airport killed 169 Afghans and 13 US service members during a harrowing airlift. But the girls, ages 14-16, and their families also could be …

Effort underway to rescue girls soccer team from Afghanistan
3 years, 4 months ago

Effort underway to rescue girls soccer team from Afghanistan

Associated Press  

They move from place to place at a moment’s notice in a desperate bid to evade the Taliban — girls whose lives are in danger simply because they chose to play a sport they loved. An international effort to evacuate members of the Afghanistan national girls soccer team, along with dozens of family members and soccer federation staff, suffered a …

Afghanistan women’s national team soccer players leave country on evacuation flight
3 years, 4 months ago

Afghanistan women’s national team soccer players leave country on evacuation flight

LA Times  

Khalida Popal, the former Afghanistan national women’s team captain, heads the ball in 2016. Players from Afghanistan women’s national soccer team had an “important victory” on Tuesday when they were among a group of more than 75 people evacuated on a flight from Kabul. Global soccer players’ union FIFPRO thanked the Australian government for making the evacuation of players, team …

Afghanistan's female athletes find refuge in Australia
3 years, 4 months ago

Afghanistan's female athletes find refuge in Australia

ABC  

That's how August 17, 2021, should be remembered. The women athletes of Afghanistan had no idea it would be a small group of Australians, led by former athletes, who would not only hear their call but would carry off a painstaking, difficult, absorbing rescue mission that spanned multiple countries and went to the highest levels of power in sport, intelligence, …

Football Officials Trying to Evacuate Players from Afghanistan, Concerns over Women Players' Safety
3 years, 4 months ago

Football Officials Trying to Evacuate Players from Afghanistan, Concerns over Women Players' Safety

News 18  

Soccer officials are liaising with governments to try to evacuate players from Afghanistan after the Taliban regained control, the world players’ union said Friday. “As a champion of activists, we are greatly concerned about those athletes who have, for many years, been outspoken advocates for improved human rights in the country,” world players’ union FIFPRO said on Twitter. “FIFA has …

FIFPRO liaising with governments to evacuate football players from Afghanistan
3 years, 4 months ago

FIFPRO liaising with governments to evacuate football players from Afghanistan

Firstpost  

Concerns have been raised about the safety of female players who have spoken up for women’s rights and against the Taliban. Football officials are liaising with governments to try to evacuate players from Afghanistan after the Taliban regained control, the world players’ union said Friday. “As a champion of activists, we are greatly concerned about those athletes who have, for …

Football officials trying to evacuate players from Afghanistan
3 years, 4 months ago

Football officials trying to evacuate players from Afghanistan

The Hindu  

Football officials are liaising with governments to try to evacuate players from Afghanistan after the Taliban regained control, the world players' union said on Friday. “As a champion of activists, we are greatly concerned about those athletes who have, for many years, been outspoken advocates for improved human rights in the country,” world players' union FIFPRO said on Twitter. “FIFA …

Women in Afghanistan fought to play sport, and now they fear it's being ripped away from them
3 years, 4 months ago

Women in Afghanistan fought to play sport, and now they fear it's being ripped away from them

ABC  

Ten years ago, Afghanistan's Paralympic Committee president had eleven bullets fired into his upper body, neck and face by the Taliban. "Our first-ever Afghanistan National Women's Team – our foundation, the purpose of the team — was to be the voice of voiceless women of Afghanistan, the women who are under the dark regime of the Taliban still," she said. …

Khalida Popal: Former Afghanistan football captain speaks out on her country’s fall to the Taliban
3 years, 4 months ago

Khalida Popal: Former Afghanistan football captain speaks out on her country’s fall to the Taliban

CNN  

CNN — On August 15, Khalida Popal watched from Denmark as her country fell into the grip of the Taliban. “I remember like going to this scary and dangerous way to a safe place to seek protection and live as a refugee in Pakistan.” ‘Our players are totally helpless’ Since then, Popal has continued to use sport as a platform …

Wrecking Ball: Return of the Taliban threatens organised sport, female athletes in Afghanistan
3 years, 4 months ago

Wrecking Ball: Return of the Taliban threatens organised sport, female athletes in Afghanistan

Firstpost  

The Great Game continues unabated in Afghanistan but organised sport could well be on the endangered list now that the Taliban have swept into power. It’s just not cricket; sport in general faces challenging times with the ascendance of the Taliban, who are against organised sport and used sports stadia for public executions when they ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to …

Afghanistan's female footballers make tearful calls for help
3 years, 4 months ago

Afghanistan's female footballers make tearful calls for help

The Hindu  

In frantic phone calls and voice messages, Khalida Popal can hear the distress and tearful pleas for help. The football players in the Afghanistan women’s national team that Popal helped establish now fear for their lives after the Taliban swept to regain control of the country after two decades. “I have been encouraging to take down social media channels, take …

Afghanistan girls eye better life through football
5 years, 4 months ago

Afghanistan girls eye better life through football

The Hindu  

In spite of all the socio-economic challenges, Afghanistan is keen to make its mark in international sports. In the capital city as member of the Rabia Balkhi School team to compete in the Subroto Cup tournament, these girls played their part in taking the side to the quarterfinals. FIFA U-20 World Cup 2019: Ten stars who impressed “It's a dream …

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