The captain of the Afghanistan women’s team has called on FIFA to help ‘save’ her team-mates from the Taliban after the country fell to the Islamist group.
The Taliban took control of Afghanistan’s capital city, Kabul, earlier this week, with many of the country’s female footballers going into hiding since the coup as the future of Afghan women remains uncertain.
Previously, Afghan women were not allowed to work and study. Individuals who violated the sexist laws were imprisoned, publicly flogged, and even executed.
With the lives of many of her football teammates under threat, national team captain Shabnam Mobarez, 25, who is currently residing in the United States, has asked the world football governing body to intervene in the situation in her home country.
She shared her conversation with one of her teammates on Twitter, which started with her saying: ‘“are you okay?”
‘My teammate in Afghanistan: “No I am not – I know they will come for me soon, can you help me?”
‘@FIFAcom how should I answer the question? We must act to save my teammates. They are my sisters?’
Under Taliban rule starting in 1996, girls were banned from attending school, while women could only appear in public wearing full-body coverings and accompanied by male escorts