Key Points
- Members of the Afghanistan Women's Football team remain defiant in the face of the Taliban's continued 'oppression' of women.
- They say they hope FIFA will allow them to play officially in the future.
- Afghan ambassador says sport is a way for women to re-assert their rights.
Fatima Yousufi says when the Taliban took over Kabul, she felt as if all of her football dreams had been razed to the ground.
The 21-year-old captain of the now Melbourne-based Afghan Women’s Team (AWT) describes it as a “very dark day for women”.
She and her teammates fled to Australia after the fundamentalist group seized Kabul in August 2021 and most of them have now been resettled in Melbourne.
Ms Yousufi says she remembers “the sound of gunfire and blasts, the sound of frightened people” as she and other team members tried to reach the gates of Kabul airport.
Fatima Yousufi (left), Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, and Ambassador, Wahidullah Waissi. Credit: Facebook/Afghanistan Embassy
Last month, the group banned hair and beauty salons in Afghanistan in a move that some described as the ‘final nail in the coffin’ for women.
Although the trauma continues to haunt them, the players of the former Afghan women’s national team acknowledge they were thrown a lifeline by people and organisations who supported them, including former Socceroo and activist, Craig Foster, and A-League club, Melbourne Victory.
“When we arrived in Australia, we wanted to play together again, we didn’t want to lose our second family again. Fortunately, we were able to play again and didn't end up playing for different teams,” Ms Yousufi told SBS Dari.
“Craig Foster, a former Australian national player, and A-League team, Melbourne Victory, (provided an) 'umbrella' for our team, and we currently work and play under this umbrella.”
With the support of Melbourne Victory, the team is now playing in the Victoria State League 3.
Two days before the opening of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the team played in the inaugural Hope Cup in north Melbourne, aimed at highlighting “the hope of Afghan women footballers to have their right to compete in international competition restored”, Melbourne Victory said in a statement.
Ms Yousufi says she is disappointed by FIFA’s refusal to recognise the team.
“FIFA is the players’ home. FIFA should have a very high level of support for players, especially those in football,” she said, “our team has spent almost two years without FIFA’s recognition, we can’t have international games and represent our country.”
“The only way we currently have is to play (at) club level, and we continue doing that, but at the same time, it’s very painful to watch the Women’s World Cup form the sidelines here in Australia.”
For Ms Yousufi, it’s all about keeping the fate of Afghan women in the spotlight.
“They shouldn’t let our voice be silenced; they should stick with us so we can represent our country again and be a voice for our nation,” she says.
What does FIFA say?
In a statement to SBS Dari, FIFA said it could only recognise a team once it was first recognised by the country’s member association, in this case the Afghanistan Football Federation.
“The selection of players and teams representing a Member Association is considered as an internal affair of (that association),” a FIFA spokesperson said.
“Therefore, FIFA does not have the right to officially recognise any team unless it is first recognised by the Member Association (concerned)."
“However, ensuring access to football for both female and male players without discrimination and in safety is a key priority for FIFA.
“FIFA is therefore continuing to monitor the situation very closely and remains in close contact with the Afghan Football Federation and other stakeholders with the aim to promote access to football in Afghanistan.”
The spokesperson also said that FIFA had supported the evacuation of more than 150 Afghan sports persons and human right defenders in 2021 and continued to support that group.
The Afghanistan Football Federation has been contacted for comment.
‘Sport, a weapon of resistance against Taliban ideology’
The Afghan Women’s Team captain says banning sports “has nothing to do with Islam” and is purely related to the Taliban’s ideology.
“If football and sports in general are a problem in Islam, then let’s talk about education - why is education [banned]?” Ms Yousufi says.
“I personally haven’t seen anywhere that education is prohibited by Islam for Muslims, especially for women.”
Wahidullah Waissi is one of the remaining 32 Afghan ambassadors who were appointed by the former government and still continue in their roles.
He’s been supporting the team that he describes as "a national team in exile".
He says the Hope Cup in Melbourne was organised with the support of various people and organisations to provide an opportunity for the team to play and not to feel “humiliated”.
“There is passion and enthusiasm, there is also talent, (so) the field should be available for them," Mr Waissi says.
Members of the Afghan women's football team attend Morocco's practice ahead of the Women's World Cup in Melbourne. Source: AAP / Victoria Adkins
“When the members of the Afghanistan women's national football team are in migration, they deal with lots of problems, life is not easy for them," he says.
"On the other hand, if they can move forward with those platforms that are available to them, and their path is clear and their goals are known, then of course there will be circumstances that they will be able to compete internationally."
But, in Mr Waissi’s view, what’s more important than FIFA’s recognition is that the Afghan women who were fortunate enough to escape the Taliban’s oppression, remain active in every field, including football, and be a voice for the millions of women bearing the brunt of the group’s “injustices”.
“This itself is a form of resistance and endurance against the conditions that the Taliban have imposed on women today. With this perseverance, they can reach any high level,” he says.
Mr Waissi says he and his fellow ambassadors who represent the former Afghan government have a role to play in creating such platforms for Afghan women abroad.
