Fears in Afghanistan for future of women’s football

Afghanistan
have
been
drawn
with
Vietnam,
Maldives
and
host
nation
Tajikistan.
But
whether
the
Afghan
team
will
be
allowed
to
go
to
Dushanbe,
indeed
whether
it
will
even
exist
at
all,
will
be
an
early
indicator
of
the
Taliban’s
attitude
to
women
as
they
return
to
power.

The
world
has
been
stunned
by
the
Islamic
group’s
swift
capture
of
Kabul
two
decades
after
a
US-led
invasion
in
2001
ended
their
first
five
years
in
power.
Back
then,
Kabul’s
Ghazi
Stadium
became
known
around
the
world,
not
for
football,
but
for
the
executions
of
those
who
fell
foul
of
the
Taliban’s
strict
laws.

Afghanistan
Taliban
crisis:
Afghan
footballer
Zaki
Anwari
dies
after
falling
from
US
C-17
Globemaster
plane

Women
could
not
leave
the
house
unless
accompanied
by
a
male
guardian
and
wearing
a
full
burqa,
they
were
not
allowed
to
work
and
girls
could
not
go
to
school
–
let
alone
play
football.
And
there
are
fears
that
the
second
Islamic
Emirate
of
Afghanistan
will
rule
in
a
similar
fashion
to
the
previous
ultra-conservative
regime.

The
founder
and
former
captain
of
the
Afghanistan
women’s
national
team,
Shamila
Kohestani,
was
a
child
during
the
Taliban’s
first
time
in
power
and
remembers
it
well.
Now
33,
she
watched
on
August
17
as
Taliban
spokesperson
Zabihullah
Mujahid
told
a
press
conference
in
Kabul
that
this
time,
women
would
be
allowed
to
work
and
study
and
“will
be
very
active
in
society
but
within
the
framework
of
Islam.”

Kohestani
believes
this
confirms
there
will
be
no
football
for
women.
“They
are
saying
they
will
allow
women
to
work
under
Sharia
law
but
the
Sharia
law
that
they
know
does
not
allow
women
to
play
sports,”
she
told
DW.

“I
am
sick
to
the
stomach
for
the
women
of
Afghanistan
and
especially
the
football
team
as
I
know
that
two
days
ago,
we
said
goodbye
to
the
women’s
football
team.”

Women’s
football
in
Afghanistan

Afgahnistan’s
female
footballers
first
said
“hello”
in
2010
when
the
women
played
their
first
international
game
–
a
fiendly
against
Nepal.

“We
were
not
going
to
the
World
Cup
or
anything,
that
wasn’t
important,”
said
Kohestani.
“It
was
a
first
step
towards
freedom
of
opportunity,
for
the
next
generation
that
will
be
able
to
compete
internationally
and
to
show
Afghan
women
to
the
world.”

For
the
hijab-wearing
players,
it
was
about
more
than
football
.
“We
played
in
a
male-dominated
sport
and
we
fought
for
that
right.
It
wasn’t
handed
to
us.
It
changed
my
life
completely
and
gave
me
the
confidence
to
come
out
of
the
shell
that
the
Taliban
had
put
me
in
as
a
child.
It
was
the
same
for
all
of
us.
It
was
an
Afghanistan
that
I
had
never
dreamed
of.”

Sport
had
been
on
the
backburner
in
the
country
due
to
the
Soviet
occupation
from
1979-1989,
the
Civil
War
of
1992-96
and
then
the
rule
of
the
Taliban.

The
men’s
national
football
team
returned
to
international
action
in
January
2003
and
a
decade
later
won
the
South
Asian
Championship.
Then,
the
gunfire
in
Kabul
was
of
the
celebratory
kind
as
the
nation
was
united
with
joy.
Hamid
Karzai,
president
from
2001
to
2014,
was
photographed
watching
the
celebrations
on
television.

Men
and
women
came
together
to
watch
games.
“Some
of
the
images
of
women
in
the
stands
screaming
their
heads
off
are
some
of
the
most
joyful
images
I’ve
ever
seen
coming
out
of
Afghanistan,”
said
Heather
Barr
of
Human
Rights
Watch.
“Women’s
participation
in
the
audience
at
men’s
football
matches
was
significant
but
more
so
were
mixed
crowds
cheering
wildly
at
women’s
football
matches.”

Afghanistan’s
sexual
abuse
scandal

It
wasn’t
all
celebrations
and
goals.

In
2018,
a
number
of
the
women’s
team
accused
officials
from
the
Afghan
Football
Federation,
including
president
Keramuddin
Karim,
of
sexual
abuse.
In
June
2019,
Karim
was
handed
a
lifetime
ban
from
footballand
fined
one
million
Swiss
francs.
Kohestani
recalls
it
as
a
difficult
but
significant
moment
for
women
in
the
country.

“When
you
are
living
as
a
woman
in
a
deeply
patriarchal
country
you
get
blamed
for
everything
and
it
is
hard
to
come
out
and
say
‘this
happened,'”
says
Kohestani.

“It
had
never
happened
before
in
Afghanistan
and
nobody
had
dared
speak
out
about
this
before.
We
had
to
fight
hard
but
we
showed
the
women
of
Afghanistan
what
we
could
do.”

Kohestani
fears
that
the
victory,
painful
though
it
was,
will
not
help
the
women
under
the
new
regime.
“The
Taliban
will
use
this
against
us
and
say
‘this
is
why
we
need
to
protect
you,
perhaps
you
can
work
in
an
office
but
you
can’t
play
football.'”

‘Allowing
women
to
play
football
would
be
a
step
too
far’

An
Asian
Football
Confederation
official
told
DW
that
there
had
been
no
communication
from
the
Afghanistan
Football
Federation
regarding
the
upcoming
games
in
qualification
for
the
2022
Women’s
Asian
Cup.

With
the
world
wondering
what
will
happen
in
the
country,
the
team’s
appearance
in
Tajikistan
would
be
a
powerful
statement
that
the
new
Taliban
do
have
different
attitudes
to
women
than
in
the
past.

That
seems
to
be
the
message
the
new
rulers
want
to
present.
On
Tuesday,
a
Taliban
representative
was
interviewed
live
on
Afghanistan’s
24/7
news
channel
TOLOnews
by
a
female
anchor.

Saad
Mohseni,
director
of
MOBY
Group,
which
owns
TOLOnews,
tweeted:

“TOLOnews
and
the
Taliban
making
history
again:
Abdul
Haq
Hammad,
senior
Taliban
rep,
speaking
to
our
(female)
presenter
Beheshta
earlier
this
morning.
Unthinkable
two
decades
ago
when
they
were
last
in
charge.”

Mohseni
said
in
a
subsequent
interview
that
the
next
few
weeks
will
be
telling
regarding
the
Taliban’s
intentions.

But
human
rights
activist
Barr
is
doubtful
that
there
will
be
real
change
from
the
previous
regime.

“We
are
certainly
hopeful
there
will
be
some
differences
compared
to
last
time
like
allowing
some
girls
to
go
to
primary
school
at
least
but
allowing
women
to
play
football
would
be
a
step
too
far
and
undermine
them
in
the
eyes
of
their
supporters.”

For
Kohestani,
the
Taliban
are
making
the
right
noises
while
there
are
still
American
and
European
troops
in
Kabul
and
the
world
is
paying
attention.

“Anyone
who
believes
they
have
changed
is
mistaken,”
she
said.
“I
haven’t
seen
anything
that
has
made
me
think
what
happened
before
is
not
going
to
happen
again.
Playing
football
and
recruiting
girls
from
all
over
Afghanistan
was
a
freedom
we
had
not
felt
before
and
it
was
beautiful.

“But
now
it
is
over.”

Source:

DW