Khalida Popal calls on the Afghan players to flee.
After the Taliban came to power, fear reigns in Afghanistan. Only athletes in one sport seem safe. It's not women's soccer.
There is chaos, panic and war in Afghanistan. That has been since the Taliban took power. Now most of the country’s athletes are also afraid. The women's national team in particular is afraid and asks for help. Khalida Popal helped build the team, her soccer colleagues fear for their lives because of the Taliban. Popal, who lives in Denmark, receives phone calls and voice messages from desperate players. The 34-year-old advises them to flee so that their neighbors do not betray them to the Taliban.
As a woman in Afghanistan and then as an emancipated soccer player, the extremists have two targets for women athletes. “I advise everyone to remove their social media channels, take down pictures, hide. That breaks my heart, because we have built it up over the years so that women are allowed to show themselves. And now I have to tell the Afghan women, they should shut up and disappear because their lives are in danger, “Popal told AP.
Popal helped build the national team, and in 2007 the time had finally come. She has received so many death threats for being quoted on national television. “I have called the Taliban our enemy.” In 2011 she stopped playing football and became an official of the Afghan Football Association. But because the threats increased, she fled to Denmark in 2016. “I was in mortal danger.” But she continued to support her team from Europe and is still doing that now. But she feels helpless because she can't really help the players. The women lost hope when the government gave up the country, Popal said.
Only the cricketers in Afghanistan do not have to fear the terrorist group. Because apparently the Taliban love this sport. National team players and their families are safe, said Hamid Shinwari, president of the national cricket federation. “The Taliban love cricket, they have always supported us, they never got in our way,” says Shinwari. He sees no problems that the sport can continue to be practiced.
The situation is different for the two Afghan participants in the Paralympics that begin on August 24th in Tokyo – they are Taekwondo fighters Zakia Khudadadi and Hossain Rasouli in the same sport. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced that there is no way for them to travel to Tokyo. “Due to the very serious situation in the country, all airports have been closed. We hope that the team and officials stay safe during this difficult time,” said IPC spokesman Craig Spence.
