“A major and historic breakthrough”: a team of Afghan refugees authorized to represent the national team

The decision is historic. This Wednesday, the International Football Federation (Fifa) announced that the “Afghan Women United” team, made up of refugee players, could represent the national team in the future. Supported by the international body, this Afghan team allows players who have taken refuge in different countries to come together and structure themselves to form a team. This decision should now allow them to continue their development.

“The FIFA Council today approved a significant amendment to the FIFA governance regulations, which allows Afghan women footballers, including Afghan Women United players, to represent their country and play official international matches in FIFA competitions,” declared Gianni Infantino, president of the body.

Afghanistan has been absent from international matches for more than seven years. His last official match even dates back to December 2018, before the return to power of the Taliban in 2021, who restricted the rights of women and in particular banned their participation in sporting competitions. Many players then fled abroad to pursue their careers.

“A militant team”

Until now, a national team could only be recognized by Fifa if it was recognized by its Federation, which was not the case for Afghanistan. The international body therefore decided to circumvent this ban in view of the “exceptional circumstances” and to allow players to participate in competitions with complete legitimacy.

Former captain of the Afghan national team, Khalida Popal welcomed this news with great joy. “Our team has always been known as an activist team,” she told Reuters. But this opportunity, with the support of Fifa, will be the moment for us also to show some of our skills and develop young talents from the diaspora. »

“I know it’s going to be difficult because Afghan women who remain in Afghanistan will have difficulty participating,” she continued. But if we can still be their voice, spreading messages of hope and showing them our support, that they are not forgotten, then we will continue to use our platform. »

Afghanistan’s return to competition is scheduled for the month of June, however, too late to participate in the qualifiers for the 2027 Football World Cup. The next deadline will be the qualifications for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.