Afghan Women's Return to Football a Human Rights Victory

When the erstwhile Afghan Women's National Football Team, present known as Afghan Women United, took the tract this week successful Morocco for their first games successful 4 years, they didn't conscionable play a match; they returned from exile, from dispossession, and from a strategy that sought to erase them.

Their instrumentality to vie aft the Taliban banned each sports for women and girls is simply a existent triumph for quality rights. 

Even earlier the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan successful August 2021, Afghan women athletes faced decease threats for representing their country. But erstwhile backmost successful power, the Taliban systematically unopen each women and girls retired of sports. They shuttered grooming centers and banned competitions. Women athletes had to destruct grounds of their diversion lives, burying uniforms and trophies. For many, sports had been their pathway to leadership, education, employment, dignity, and joy.

The players had to fly the state and marque caller lives for themselves overseas arsenic refugees. They rebuilt their team, portion shouldering the dreams of their erstwhile teammates successful Afghanistan suffering nether the Taliban's repression.  

The Sport & Rights Alliance and Human Rights Watch reported however FIFA's nonrecognition of the Afghan women's squad efficaciously exported the Taliban's repressive policies overseas and denied Afghan women athletes their close to compete, adjacent extracurricular Afghanistan. 

But aft 4 years of seeking authoritative recognition, the players' determination has forced FIFA to let the squad to compete.

"Playing for my state is 1 of the ways I tin basal up for the girls backmost successful Afghanistan," said Fatima Foladi, who played connected Afghanistan's Under-15 and Under-19 nationalist teams. "My imagination is to beryllium reunited with my teammates from each implicit the world, to play with them again and bring backmost the shot dreams we had erstwhile we lived backmost home."

FIFA has not yet formally recognized the Afghan players arsenic the women's nationalist team, and they should bash so. FIFA and different athletics federations including the International Cricket Council request to basal with Afghan women athletes, alternatively than those who question to exclude them from sports.

To spot the squad rebuilt and competing again gives anticipation for aboriginal generations of Afghan women and girls that they excessively tin reclaim their rights, not lone successful sports but successful each aspects of their lives.

Source: Human Rights Watch