His women’s soccer team Afghanistan has arrived in neighboring Pakistan, the intelligence minister in Islamabad said on Tuesday as the status of Afghan women athletes with the Taliban in power remains unclear.
“We welcome the Afghan women’s soccer team, they have arrived at the Torkham border from Afghanistan,” Pakistani Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said on Twitter, adding that the team had been received by a Pakistani Football Federation spokesman.
Chondri did not give further details and it was not immediately clear how many players have entered his country and what their plans are.
Mass exodus of Afghans from the country
Their departure is part of a wider exodus of Afghan intellectuals and public figures, mostly women, since the Taliban came to power a month ago.
The last time the Islamist movement came to power in Afghanistan two decades ago, girls were not allowed to go to school and women were not allowed to study or work. Women were also banned from playing sports and this is likely to happen this time as well.
“Women are not allowed to play sports”
A Taliban spokesman told Australian television station SBS last week that he did not believe women should be allowed to play cricket because it was “not necessary” and was opposed to Islam.
“Islam and the Islamic Emirate do not allow women to play cricket or play sports in which their bodies are exposed,” said Ahmad Wasik, the Taliban’s deputy head of the cultural committee, according to the network.
Many former and current soccer players have fled the country after the Taliban came to power, and a former women’s soccer team leader has called on players staying in Afghanistan to burn their sports equipment and delete their social media accounts. avoid retaliation.
The International Football Association, FIFA, announced last month that it is working to remove the other players from the country.
The article Afghanistan: Women’s soccer team arrives in Pakistan to escape Taliban published in NewsIT .