Australia evacuates women footballers from capital

PLAYERS from the Afghan women’s national football team have been flown out of danger in Kabul by the Australian government.

About 1,000 people have been evacuated on Australian flights so far and yesterday it was reported that 50 female athletes and their families were among them.

Fifpro, the worldwide association for professional footballers, thanked the Australian government for making the evacuation possible.

“These young women, both as athletes and activists, have been in a position of danger and on behalf of their peers around the world we thank the international community for coming to their aid,” the union said in a statement.

The creation of the Afghan women’s football team in 2007 was seen as a political act of defiance against the Taliban, which banned females from playing sport in the 1990s.

Players had been advised to delete social media posts and photographs of them with the team to help avoid reprisals since the fall of the Afghan government.

Khalida Popal, a former Afghan women’s team captain now living in Denmark, hailed the evacuations as an important victory.

“The women footballers have been brave and strong in a moment of crisis and we hope they will have a better life outside Afghanistan,” she said.

Fifpro urged the international community to ensure the players received the help they needed in their new lives.

“There are also many athletes still at risk in Afghanistan and every effort should be made to offer them support,” it added.