Jakarta (ANTARA) – FIFA encourages the international community to step up efforts to help Afghan athletes find new homes after the Taliban take control of their country.
More than 150 members of the Afghan sports community, including 50 footballers, and their families were evacuated this month with assistance from Qatar, in coordination with the world’s football governing body.
Hundreds of other athletes remain in Afghanistan, asking for help to leave the country.
“I really call on all governments in Europe, and around the world, to help us (to) find a new home, a new hometown” for the evacuees, FIFA President Gianni told AFP Infantino.
“We can’t just talk about solidarity, we can’t just talk about aid. We have to do it concretely,” he said in Doha.
“They went through something none of us could have imagined, and we took them out.”
The Taliban toppled the US-backed Afghan government in August and have since sought financial support for their regime, promising more flexible rules than the last time they ruled.
However, some women are still banned from working, fears of being punished for exercising are widespread.
And although they have not issued a formal policy regarding women in sport, the Taliban have issued statements indicating that meaningful participation of women in sport would be impossible.
While in power in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban banned women from sports and even competition.
Sports stadiums are also often used for public performances.
The all-male Taliban government shut down the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and replaced it with an organization known to have imposed religious doctrine during its first term.
The Taliban have since denied suppressing the ministry and insist they are setting a framework for it.
Joyce Cook, FIFA’s head of CSR and education, said 158 people from the sports community and their families will travel from Doha to Albania until a permanent solution is found.
They are part of a list of 545 people who wish to leave the country.
“We urgently need countries to act now,” Cook said, adding that the biggest challenge now was to find permanent countries in which to live.
“FIFA has 211 member associations, which is 211 countries, and we are calling on all of those countries to help us now.”
A 24-year-old woman has been with the national football team since 2011 and says that everything changed when the Taliban took power in mid-August.
“These are myopic people (who see) women as insignificant … I want to show them that women are also human … that’s why I joined football,” he said under cover. of anonymity.
With his arms and legs bruised after practicing on concrete floors for hours, he said football was like a “soothing medicine”.
Using water bottles to score the goal, his team now play in flip flops and jeans at the Doha compound, all sharing the same hope.
“Me and other women dream of going to Canada,” she said.
Members of Afghanistan’s junior women’s football team and their families had previously applied for asylum in Portugal and resumed training in the suburbs of Lisbon.
“If Canada, the United States, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand … if they could give us a signal and welcome these women, I think that would be a great message of solidarity and unity that only football can provide, ”said Infantino. .
Australia and New Zealand will host the Women’s World Cup in 2024, while the United States, Mexico and Canada share the task of hosting the 2026 Men’s World Cup.
For Cook, the story of the Afghan athlete reflects a human tragedy.
“It’s very suffocating to hear their stories … These are people who deserve a start in a new life.”
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