Barcelona top after Celta win
woman should play soccer?’ Well, where does it say women shouldn’t play soccer? Limiting women to play soccer is not solving the issue of sexual harassment. They need to make the women’s committee completely independent from the men’s federation.”
Some members of the Afghan government, Kohestani says, are now “playing politics”, “only interested in looking for opportunities for themselves”.
“They say, ‘They [the women] want to remove the other person because they want to take over football’,” she says. “But it’s not like they’re going to give the position to the women. It’s more focused on things that don’t matter to women.”
Although the country’s president,
Dec 9
Attorney general suspends six members of AFF.
Dec 12
Keramuudin Karim provisionally banned from all football-related activities for 90 days by Fifa.
Ashraf Ghani, has said that “no kind of disrespect against our boy and girl athletes is acceptable”, Kohestani is uncomfortable with his belief that “the honour of our women is the honour of our country”.
“This is very common in Afghanistan: when a woman does something, the father, the brother, the husband will beat her up and tell her, ‘I saved my honour’,” Kohestani explains. “Honour in the country is very big – so why are you giving other men the weapon to use against women?
“This happened to women as individuals. It has nothing to do with the honour of anyone. We should focus on the women who are suffering, the women who are victims. “We should worry more about them than the honour of the country, the honour of people. Who cares what people think about Afghanistan? Let them think that we have animals in Afghanistan who misbehave, who use women.”
The preoccupation with honour has inspired, Kohestani believes, the current national team players’ defence of the AFF in press conferences. “They are using them as a way to speak for the whole federation: ‘The federation is so clean’.” Are they being pressured? “I don’t think they’re pressured. They are saying, ‘It didn’t happen to me – my family will kill me’. They wanted to protect their honour, who they are, so they can play football. I don’t blame them – they live society – but you can’t say that about other women. They could defend themselves, saying, ‘This didn’t happen to me – it doesn’t happen to everyone’. But they can’t defend the president or people who have been accused, because they don’t know.
“I think they find themselves in a place where they have to defend the federation because they’re a current player.”
A Fifa spokesperson said: “Fifa has been fully aware of the situation in Afghanistan and has been working hard to secure the safety of the girls.
“Fifa has been working very discreetly with those involved – given the sensitive nature of the accusations and danger to life posed – since last March to pull together evidence for a formal investigation and have brought in the UN, such is the extent of their concern for the girls still in the country and the need to bring in an organisation that can make political and legal interventions outside of Fifa’s abilities.”
Portsmouth beat Sunderland
Ronan Curtis scored his eighth goal of the season to help League One leaders Portsmouth beat promotion rivals Sunderland 3-1 at a sold-out Fratton Park. Gareth Evans, Curtis and Ben Thompson scored the goals for the hosts, Luke O’Nien responding for Sunderland. Luton remain in second place after Jack Stacey and James Collins gave them a 2-0 victory over Carabao Cup semi-finalists Burton. At the other end of the table, Bradford climbed out of the relegation places with a 2-0 win against Scunthorpe.
Lincoln move four points clear
Lincoln extended their lead at the top of League Two to four points with a 3-2 home win against play-off chasing Newport. The Imps raced into a two-goal lead as John Akinde and Harry Anderson both struck inside the first seven minutes and Tom Pett made the game safe as Danny Cowley’s side stretched their unbeaten league run to six matches. Colchester closed the gap on second-placed MK Dons to two points as Luke Prosser’s goal earned them a 1-0 win at Stadium MK. Bury stay in fourth place after a 2-1 home win against Tranmere.
Madrid win Club World Cup
Real Madrid eased to a 4-1 win over local side Al Ain in the final in Abu Dhabi to claim their fourth Club World Cup. Ballon d’Or winner Luka Modric and Marcos Llorente scored from outside the area, with Sergio Ramos and an own goal from Yahia Nader completing the scoring as the European champions added the world title to their collection.
Barcelona moved three points clear at the top of La Liga as first-half goals from Ousmane Dembele and Lionel Messi saw off Celta Vigo. “It was the objective to end the year as leaders with the same advantage we had before this round of matches started, so we’re happy,” said coach Ernesto Valverde.
Mandzukic sees off Roma
Mario Mandzukic’s first-half goal fired Juventus past Roma 1-0 and eight points clear of nearest Serie A title rivals Napoli. The reigning champions were not at their best but have not failed to score at home in the league this season and they kept that run going as Mandzukic struck 10 minutes before the break. Elsewhere, Fiorentina beat AC Milan 1-0 thanks to Enrico Chiesa’s goal.
Henry’s Monaco lose again
Thierry Henry’s reign as Monaco coach has hit a new low after his side lost 2-0 at home to Guingamp in the battle between the division’s bottom two clubs in France.