The emirate worked with the world association FIFA for the evacuation.
According to Qatar, it has taken in around 100 Afghan footballers and their families. According to the British media, there are also a number of players involved in the women's national team. According to the reports, the world association FIFA worked closely with the Qatari government to enable the footballers to travel to the emirate.
As Qatar's foreign minister spokeswoman Lolwah Al-Khater wrote on Twitter, the eighth plane from Kabul arrived on Thursday with a total of 357 passengers.
The 8th passengers flight from Kabul just arrived in Qatar. This is the biggest flight thus far with 357 passengers on board and for the first time we have citizens from New Zealand ๐ณ๐ฟ. Also around 100 footballers & their families including female players are on board ๐๐ผ pic.twitter.com/93ehot2urN
– ููููุฉ ุงูุฎุงุทุฑ Lolwah Alkhater (@Lolwah_Alkhater) October 14, 2021
Since the Taliban came to power, Afghan women athletes in particular had feared not only about their sporting future, but also about the chances of good professional training. The former Afghan national players Shabnam Ruhin, Mina Ahmadi and Mariam Gitti Ruhin, who live in Germany, had strongly criticized the world association and called for help.
Portugal has now taken in female soccer players from the national junior team, while Australia has evacuated more than 50 Afghan women athletes and their families. According to its own information, the UCI, the world cycling association, also helped evacuate 165 Afghan refugees, including female cyclists.
