Afghan women, war-scarred and scattered across the world, can finally play FIFA tournaments
War-scarred women footballers from Afghanistan living in exile across the world, can finally play in FIFA tournaments. After eight long years, they can proudly bear their country’s name, and not compete under the Afghan Women United banner. Although FIFA has not officially recognised the Afghan Football Federation, as the ruling Taliban has banished all women’s sports, the world football governing body’s council voted on Tuesday to circumvent the rule. It’s a resonant moment.
This moment offers hope and fires the imagination of athletes who fled the country when the Taliban returned to power in 2021. When it started restricting women’s sports, 70-odd women fled their country just so that they could continue playing football, with the help of expats around the world. Their captain, Shabnam Mobarez, who was raised in Denmark, reached out to the community across the world and soon they found refuge in Australia, England, where the women’s youth team trains, in partnership with the Premier League side Leeds United, Portugal and Italy.
The team will have success stories like Mobarez, Nadia Nadeem and Khalida Popal to emulate. They have rising talents like Fatima Foladi, who sneaked into the airport, showed her football credentials to the US military retreating from the country and managed to board the flight to the US. Manoozh Noori buried her medals in her backyard and escaped to Australia, where she plays for a club in the top division. Nilab Mohammadi, the women’s team captain, left her post in the Afghanistan Army and fled to Australia. Some of their tales are stranger than fiction. They might never be as famous as Brazil’s Marta or Spain’s Alexia Putellas, but no law or custom could stop them from turning up for their country and fulfilling their dream.
- 1The Taliban's categorical ban on women's sports in Afghanistan exemplifies a profound breach of fundamental human rights, particularly the right to equality and non-discrimination, mirroring principles found in Article 14 and 15 of the Indian Constitution. This highlights the critical importance of a state's constitutional commitment to upholding individual liberties, which are severely curtailed under the Taliban's de facto governance. FIFA's intervention, bypassing the unrecognised Afghan Football Federation, underscores how international bodies can act to protect rights where state governance fails.
- 2The FIFA Council's decision to permit Afghan women footballers to represent their country, despite the Taliban's oppressive regime, illustrates a complex interplay of international relations, where human rights considerations challenge traditional notions of state sovereignty. This act exemplifies "sports diplomacy," a form of soft power where global institutions leverage their influence to advocate for universal values like gender equality against authoritarian rule. Such interventions, while not direct foreign policy, contribute significantly to shaping global perceptions and pressure on regimes that disregard international human rights conventions, like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
- 3FIFA's unprecedented decision to "circumvent the rule" regarding the Afghan Football Federation underscores the intricate legal and regulatory challenges faced by international sports bodies when confronted with state-sponsored human rights abuses. This move implicitly upholds principles enshrined in international human rights law, particularly the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which mandates states to eliminate gender discrimination in all spheres, including sports. Such actions by global regulators create a unique legal precedent, demonstrating a commitment to non-discrimination even when direct engagement with a de facto government is impossible.
- 4The mass exodus of "70-odd women" footballers from Afghanistan, driven by the Taliban's regressive policies, exemplifies a tragic instance of human capital flight and a severe blow to social progress and gender equality within the nation. Their continued participation in FIFA tournaments, facilitated by international support, offers immense social impact by providing psychological resilience, fostering integration into new communities, and inspiring countless others globally. This saga powerfully illustrates how sports transcend mere competition, serving as a vital tool for social empowerment, challenging patriarchal norms, and offering a pathway to personal and collective dignity amidst profound displacement.