March 26 – Ahead of the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers, the Afghan national team and human rights groups have called on FIFA to end the team’s exile and reinstate it in international competition.
A new report by the Sport & Rights Alliance (SRA) titled ‘It’s not just a game. It’s part of who I am’: Afghan Women Footballers’ Fight for the Right to Play’, details the plight and ordeal of the Afghan women’s team in post-Taliban Afghanistan. It’s understood that FIFA has withheld funding from the Afghanistan Football Federation, but the women’s team – its players are in exile around the world – has also been sidelined.
At a news conference, Joanna Maranhao of the SRA listed key demands: “The first one is to recognise the national team in exile, allowing them to play in international competitions as official representatives of Afghanistan. The second one is to provide financial support, as it does for other member associations, to equip and provide capacity for the team to continue training and competing in exile, and the third one is to use its considerable leverage and influence to restore women’s and girls rights to play sport in Afghanistan.”
The Asian Cup qualifiers are a part of the pathway to the 2027 Women’s World Cup and it will be the second consecutive time that Afghanistan will miss out on World Cup qualifying since the Taliban takeover in 2021. Due to current FIFA regulations, the team would have to receive recognition from the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan Football Federation, but the Taliban has banned women’s sports.
A driving force behind the team for years, Khalida Popal (pictured) said: “If the Taliban said women belong to the kitchen, where do the governing body of sports stand? We want leadership today more than ever. But with our challenges that we have faced, it shows that there is there is no system in place for situations like Afghanistan.”
In a letter dated March 21, FIFA general-secretary Matthias Grafstrom outlined a three-pillar strategy as part of the global governing body’s support for Afghan women’s football: project-specific support to women and girls in Afghanistan, advocacy and diplomacy, and support to players outside Afghanistan.
FIFA’s second in commad added: “We are under no illusion that these efforts are difficult, and success is not self-evident and may take time to materialise.”
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1743265312labto1743265312ofdlr1743265312owedi1743265312sni@i1743265312tnuk.1743265312ardni1743265312mas1743265312
