September 15, 2021
1 min read

Afghan female football team flees Taliban regime

The footballers belonging to the national junior girls team were facing threats from the Taliban due to their involvement in sports….reports Asian Lite News

 Female footballers from Afghanistan along with their families crossed the Torkham border to reach Pakistan on Tuesday night after the government issued emergency humanitarian visas to evacuate them from their country following the Taliban takeover, Dawn reported.

The footballers belonging to the national junior girls team were facing threats from the Taliban due to their involvement in sports. They had been originally due to travel to Qatar, where Afghan refugees have been housed at a facility for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, but were left stranded after a bomb blast at the Kabul airport on August 26, Dawn reported.

While most of the Afghanistan national women’s team had flown out in the last week of August after an arrangement with the Australian government, the youth team were unable to get flights because they lacked passports and other documentation. They had since been in hiding to evade the Taliban.



The move to bring the 32 footballers – a total of 115 people, including their families – to Pakistan was initiated by British-based NGO Football for Peace in cooperation with the government and the Pakistan Football Federation of Ashfaq Hussain Shah, which isn’t recognised by FIFA.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino had visited the Afghan refugees during his trip to Doha last week, but the global football body has been criticised for its inaction in aiding the female footballers who were still in Afghanistan.

“We launched these efforts a few weeks ago and we’re extremely thankful to the government and PFF president Ashfaq Hussain Shah and vice president Aamir Dogar for facilitating us,” Pakistan ambassador of Football for Peace Sardar Naveed Haider Khan, a former member of Ashfaq’s PFF, told Dawn on Tuesday night.

ALSO READ: Blinken defends US withdrawal from Afghanistan

Previous Story

Shamsheer’s Firm lists on ADX Second Market

Next Story

Apple iPhone 13 Pro promises leap in filmmaking tech

Latest from -Top News

Vance Defends US Sanctions, Tariffs on India

Vance said the Trump administration is making it harder for Moscow to profit from its oil economy through measures that include tariffs on India….reports Asian Lite News US Vice President JD Vance

Bangladesh Rejects Dar’s 1971 Claim

During his two-day Dhaka visit, the first in 13 years, Dar made the claims after meeting interim Foreign Affairs Advisor Hossain…reports Asian Lite News Bangladesh has rejected Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and
Go toTop

Don't Miss

10,000 evacuated as Sutlej River floods Pakistan

Section 144 has been imposed in the area to protect

50 tons of honey harvested in Afghanistan’s Baghlan

Farmers and bee owners have collected more than 50 tonnes