A FIFA rule change allowing Afghanistan’s women footballers to compete in official matches is a “historic moment” and “basic human right”, former captain Khalida Popal told AFP on Thursday.
Afghanistan will in future be eligible to qualify for the Women’s World Cup and the Olympics, something Popal said was the culmination of a “long fight”.
“I woke up this morning imagining a young Afghan girl opening her eyes and saying, ‘I’ve got the right to play’. This is a basic human right,” Popal said from Copenhagen.
She added: “It’s fantastic news, it’s a historic moment we are trying to absorb.”
The Afghanistan Women’s National Team was founded by Popal and other players in 2007 in Kabul.
After the Taliban authorities retook power in 2021, about 100 players and family were evacuated to Melbourne in Australia, with team members also relocating to Europe, Britain and the United States.
Women in Afghanistan are banned from participating in sport, and the Taliban authorities have shut down clandestine exercise groups held behind closed doors.
A team of Afghan refugee players was formed between Europe and Australia, playing their first international matches at the FIFA Unites: Women’s Series last year in Morocco. — AFP
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