Some 4 years after fleeing Afghanistan, a group of refugees returns to international competition

Four years after players from the Afghanistan women’s national team fled their homeland amid the Taliban’s takeover, a number of the teammates are representing their country again in a soccer tournament. Only this time as refugees.

The tournament represents a first major step in the fight to be officially recognized as a national team on the global stage. Collectively they call themselves Afghan Women United.

“It’s really exciting to see each other, hug each other and finally share and play together,” said captain Fatima Haidari, who lives in Italy. “As an athlete I say, you will face challenges and difficulties in your life, but you always can overcome and never give up. Never give up.”

Kicking off

FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, is staging a four-team friendly tournament in Morocco that includes the refugee team along with Chad, Libya and Tunisia. The event dubbed FIFA Unites: Women’s Series 2025, started Sunday.

The tournament comes after years of lobbying by players, former captain and activist Khalida Popal, and human rights groups, to facilitate the team’s return to competition.

“With all the challenges that we have been through, all the barriers that we faced, finally, after four years and some months, the girls are playing football as the Afghan team,” Popal said, “but with no title.”

“I’m glad the girls are playing. Is it enough? No. But it’s a good start.”

The tournament was originally set for Dubai, and was to include Chad, Libya and the host United Arab Emirates. In Australia, where some members of the team have settled, there were media reports that the players were unable to obtain visas. FIFA didn’t give a reason for the move.

The challenges

The Afghan women’s national team played its last official competitive game in 2018. The Taliban regime’s return to power in 2021 shut down all women’s sports.

But even before the demise of the team, the Afghan soccer federation was under investigation for misconduct involving the women’s program, including allegations of rape and physical abuse. Keramuddin Keram, the federation president, was banned for life by FIFA.

The players fled Afghanistan as the Taliban took over, fearing persecution. Some have spoken out about the harrowing ordeal, burning their kits to avoid detection and scrambling to get out.

“We faced challenges or difficulties that I don’t even want to remember because it was really bitter,” Haidari said. “It is about leaving your homeland and all your friends, family and all the people that you know. What makes me sad is there are still some girls and women that are not playing, but they hope to be on the international pitch like us, like we are here now. We want to be their voice.”

The future

While many ended up in Australia, there are Afghan players spread across Europe and some in the United States. FIFA held identification camps in Australia and England, calling in 70 players before whittling the roster down to 23 for the tournament, coach Pauline Hamill said.

“We want to show what we can do in the future, we want to show our potential. And then it’s about, from this starting point, how we then move forward,” Hamill said. “So to get back on the pitch for these players is a big win. They’ve been waiting a long time. And this tournament … gives us the perfect chance to play matches together and then be really excited about the future.”

While the Afghan federation has obligations under FIFA statutes to avoid discrimination, it hasn’t been suspended from international soccer despite failing to acknowledge the women’s team.

Players and their advocates have fought for official recognition. In May the FIFA Council approved the Strategy for Action for Afghan Women’s Football. But the team cannot yet represent Afghanistan in Women’s World Cup qualifying or Asian championships.

While the tournament in Morocco is a first step, the goal is to become independent of FIFA, Popal said. But she wanted to emphasize that players are grateful to the organization for making this important move.

Popal said the players are seeking meaningful recognition as a national team and an independent national soccer federation “to actually govern the teams, to make sure girls are not silenced.”

“Our players have been fighting for that right for so long,” Popal said. “Of course, there’s not governance in this initiative and the pilot, but we would love to have it in the future.”

The dream

Afghan Women United fell 6-1 in its first match to Chad on Sunday in Casablanca, with Manozh Noori scoring the lone goal for the refugee team.

For the players, the games are not about wins and losses. They’re making a statement.

“I feel safe. I feel free as a girl, as a woman, to have a normal life, to play, to dream,” Haidari said. “Actually that’s why, not only in my dreams, but I carry the dreams of all girls and women in Afghanistan that want to play.”

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer