The Taliban ruined the dreams of female Afghan footballers. In exile, their struggle to play continues
The Taliban ruined the dreams of female Afghan footballers. In exile, their struggle to play continues
'My team-mates are my sisters. Our dream is to play together again, standing side by side.'
In June 2021, Fatima Foladi was a rising football star in Afghanistan when she scored against Tajikistan in an under-17 international match.
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Two months later, her life was turned upside down.
The Taliban's return to power led to the repression of women's rights in the Asian country, restricting basic freedoms and banning teenage girls from education. The United Nations said such treatment could amount to 'gender apartheid'.
Foladi, then aged 16, went to Kabul International Airport where, upon showing her national football credentials, she was assisted by the U.S. military in boarding a flight to America. She was not alone in fleeing Afghanistan; more than 75 people associated with the nation's women's senior football team — including players, officials and their families — escaped to Australia, assisted by FIFPro, football's global players' union. Others fled to countries in Europe, including the United Kingdom.
Women's sports are banned in Afghanistan.
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The regulations of FIFA, world football's governing body, require recognition by a national federation for teams to compete. The Taliban-controlled Afghan Football Federation (AFF) does not acknowledge its women's teams.
As a result, the Afghanistan senior women's side have not played an official match since 2018 and a nation with a population exceeding 40 million no longer features in FIFA's 196-team women's world rankings.
Going forward, Afghanistan are excluded from the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup Qualifiers draw, which feeds into the qualification process for the Women's World Cup in Brazil the following year.
In response, players and others are campaigning for FIFA to recognise the team and allow them to represent their homeland.
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Last month, Nilab Mohammadi joined Skye United in Melbourne, Australia.
Mohammadi, a striker, captained Afghanistan when they last played an official game in 2018. Six months after fleeing to Australia, she was among the Afghan migrants to represent Melbourne Victory FC AWT — AWT symbolising Afghanistan Women's Team — which began life in Australia's seventh tier in 2022.
'Afghanistan's women's football team is a symbol of victory, peace and hope for Afghan women around the world,' Mohammadi says. 'We will not give up fighting to play.'
She believes the symbolism of what the national team represents is crucial: 'The rights and freedoms of women in Afghanistan must be highlighted and defended. This is our appeal to the world. Women's football means fighting for freedom and respect.'
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Before the Taliban takeover, Mohammadi was in the Afghan army and had completed her political science degree at Kabul's Kardan University — rights no longer afforded to females in her country. 'My interest in politics was about defending women's rights and showing that, in an Islamic society, women can serve a nation in the same way men do.' After migrating to Australia, Mohammadi combined studying English with her football career and again wants to serve in the army.
Foladi, like Mohammadi, has been able to continue playing football and enjoying career opportunities denied to their fellow female Afghans who did not escape their home nation. Having initially settled in the U.S. city of Boston, Foladi is now an aerospace student at the University of Michigan.
'Becoming an aerospace engineer has always been my dream,' Foladi says. 'Growing up in that environment (in Afghanistan), you are not encouraged to do these things and are told to do something easier. But the more people tell me I cannot do something, I want to do it. My personality is to prove that to myself and to others. It motivates me.'
Foladi says she is 'always grateful' for the opportunities afforded to her in America but admits it is painful to have had to flee her home: 'Moving to the United States left behind a part of me. I am away from my country, the girls who were my team-mates and my friends. I left everything and everyone I knew for 15 years. It was heartbreaking.'
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Khalida Popal founded the Afghan women's side, and was the first woman to work for the AFF.
She fled Afghanistan in 2011, fearing for her safety, and now lives in Denmark, where she sought asylum. She pioneered female football in Afghanistan and had received death threats.
'Football is the platform where we can represent our sisters and be their voice,' Popal says. 'These players have been through trauma, but they have not stopped advocating for their rights. We feel responsible for our sisters. We can show our adversity with pride and show that we exist. We believe this team can become role models for oppressed women around the world.'
Popal is cautious and realistic about a return to the international stage. Her experience of violent threats and sinister phone calls prompted her to advise female Afghan players to wipe their social media presence. 'The players' security is vital because if this group of players come together, they may be a target,' Popal says. 'We need to think of risk measurements to take if they play a match in the region. Are we protecting them, or putting them in danger?'
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There are other factors too, Popal says. 'These women have been traumatised several times, so do they have the player care that they need?'
Providing a safe environment in which to play would be the responsibility of the football authorities.
In March, in response to a report by the Sports and Rights Alliance (SRA, a coalition of rights groups), FIFA pledged to 'promote the wellbeing of women and girls in Afghanistan' and provide 'measures to promote the provision of playing opportunities and other forms of support for those players who are currently outside of Afghanistan'.
World football's governing body said it would engage in 'advocacy and diplomacy' with the relevant bodies 'to explore ways to reduce the exclusion from sport of women and girls in Afghanistan over time'.
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Popal has praised this 'collaborative' approach. FIFA says it supported the evacuation of around 160 people in total from Afghanistan in October 2021, around 70 per cent of whom were women and children, including female players.
'I have had good conversations with FIFA, and I am glad they are finally listening to the players,' Popal says.
FIFA has not, however, communicated whether it intends to officially recognise the Afghan women's teams or how any specific funding would be allocated. Its position is that the situation is ongoing.
The body acknowledged that time would be required for the Afghan teams to achieve their goals, but also spoke of their 'duty to do (its) best to use football's power to unite, inspire change and create opportunities', committing to continued engagement with the players and SRA.
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'FIFA should be questioned as to why our team is not recognised,' says Mohammadi. 'We are working so hard to continue our fight. Not being recognised is a huge disappointment, but we will not give up. We will continue to fight and speak out.'
Mohammadi also explains that the team set up an online petition for recognition by FIFA. At the time of writing, it had amassed more than 185,000 signatures.
'FIFA's statement is a step in the right direction, but it is very small,' Foladi says. 'There have been years of silence, which have been very painful for us. The statement alone is not enough and promises only matter if they result in meaningful action.
'Our existence has been removed, and we have been denied access to normality. Football needs to place humanity over politics. This cannot be delayed. Football is supposed to be a place where all humans can come together regardless of their nationality or politics. Sport needs to remember these values.'
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Football is not the only sport to face questions over Afghan women's participation.
Cricket's global governing body, the ICC, requires its members to recognise a national women's team and have female pathway structures in place for full membership status. Afghanistan remains one of just 12 full members of the ICC, despite its women's teams no longer being recognised.
Afghanistan's men's team have retained their Test status, reached the semi-finals of last year's Twenty20 World Cup and played in the 50-over-a-side Champions Trophy this February, where they defeated England. Ahead of that match, a cross-party letter signed by nearly 200 UK politicians was sent to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to call for a boycott of the game. The ECB said the situation in Afghanistan was 'heartbreaking' and was 'nothing short of gender apartheid', but the fixture went ahead.
Last month, the ICC announced the formation of a dedicated task force to support displaced Afghan female cricketers. The organisation said it would 'establish a dedicated fund to provide direct monetary assistance, ensuring these cricketers have the resources they need to continue pursuing the game they love'.
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It added: 'This will be complemented by a robust high-performance programme offering advanced coaching, world-class facilities and tailored mentorship to help them reach their full potential.'
After suffering a career-ending knee injury, Popal set up her own organisation, called Girl Power. She believes sport motivates and empowers minority groups in Europe and enables refugees to connect and assimilate with locals. Popal wants football to do more to help displaced players, including those from Afghanistan.
'There is no integration for our players to continue careers,' Popal says. 'The sports system discriminates against refugees. These players risked everything to play football. They managed to flee Afghanistan, but they arrive in countries that will not empathise with them.
'For instance, some arrive in the UK. They go to a job centre and are told that any financial support will be removed if they play football, because it is not a priority career. So what option do they have but to sacrifice football? If you are a refugee from a Muslim country or the Middle East, the system is not made for you. Football has no system in place for those who go through these challenges. Which door should we be knocking?'
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Foladi and Mohammadi are, by any measure, privileged in comparison to many of their fellow Afghan women. They both escaped the nation and so avoided direct Taliban oppression, could continue with their educational and career pathways, and continue to play sport without fear. They speak positively about the U.S. and Australia, respectively.
Yet both are also refugees, unwillingly separated from their country, friends, family and team-mates. They have faced adversity, challenges and worries that most people, never mind athletes, ever even contemplate.
'We want people to appreciate their privilege and not take it for granted,' Popal says. 'Your privilege is your power. I have more privilege and freedom than most Afghan women, so I need to use my voice for them.'
Mohammadi wants women who remain in Afghanistan to know 'you are not alone' and says their struggle is the motivation for the nation's dispersed footballers: 'Us Afghans outside the country will never allow your voice to be silenced. We will struggle for you.'
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Foladi believes that through these 'darkest times' for Afghan women, their pain will turn into power and the return of an Afghanistan women's team will be a 'symbol of resistance' for girls and women across the nation.
'It feels like the world has forgotten us, but I promise that we will never forget each other,' Foladi says.
'Afghan women's voices matter. Their resistance matters. We are stronger than anyone else can imagine. We will be free again, we will play again, and when that day comes, the world will see the power of Afghan women.'
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Premier League, Soccer, International Football, UK Women's Football, Women's World Cup
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