There is an atmosphere of laughter this evening. The football stadium of the German club Wolfsburg, where the Afghan women's national team is training, is witnessing what is strictly prohibited for women in their homeland: playing football.
In the first training session of the day, the female coaches mainly focus on getting to know the players better and having fun and having a good time on the court. Since April of this year, these young women have been officially allowed to play football as a national team for Afghanistan.
For this purpose, FIFA amended its regulations. From now on, Afghan female footballers will once again be able to represent their country in official international matches and FIFA competitions.
“It was a huge victory for us and a wonderful moment and one of the moments we are most proud of. Once again, the women of our country wrote history and made changes,” says Khaleda Popal, who supports the Afghan national team through her organization “Girl Power,” in an interview with “Deutsche Welle.”
Karimi: “I am very proud”
For five years since the Taliban seized power in 2021, female players have fought for the recognition that is now a reality. “I am very proud that we can now officially play as a national team,” says Maryam Karimi.
For the midfielder, who has been living in Portugal since her escape, FIFA's decision is more than just a formality in the field of sports law. "I hope that one day we will return to play in Afghanistan with this team," she says.
However, until then, Afghanistan will remain a country without a country. “We will probably be one of the first national teams in history that has no homeland and no country to play in,” says Popal, a former captain and co-founder of the Afghan women's national team. “We will play matches from exile and represent our country.”
Today, female players are spread across several countries and continents. Many come from England, Italy, Portugal and Germany, but some have found refuge in Australia as well.
“We come from different countries and cannot play together regularly,” Karimi says with obvious happiness. “But when I see the players, they are incredibly united. They keep moving forward and motivate each other.”
Achieve more exposure through football
Bhopal also continues to give directions from the touchline. The 39-year-old wants to help female players with her experience and push them forward on the sporting level as well. The national team is not supposed to be viewed only in terms of what was taken from it. What he achieves on the sporting level is also crucial.
“The first goal is, of course, to build a strong team that delivers convincing sports performance,” Bhopal says, stressing: “The better we play, the better we can represent our country and the more famous we become.”
But this is the biggest challenge currently. In Afghanistan itself, it is not currently possible to establish a regular system for women's football. As long as the Taliban remains in power, women are not allowed to play sports.
Therefore, there is no platform to develop young talents and there is no money and no support from the country the female players represent. The Afghan Football Federation, unlike FIFA, does not recognize the women's national team. Therefore, the team's future must be built outside the country at the present time.
“We have neither a union nor a country where talent can grow,” Bhopal says. This is why we rely heavily on the Afghan community abroad. There, the team is looking for players who may not have played for any club in Afghanistan but who might represent the country of their fathers in the future.
“The Taliban erases the presence of women from society”
To organize soccer camps like this one, women rely on outside support. This time, the training camp could only be organized at the invitation of Volkswagen and Wolfsburg. Bhopal and her organization have a lot of work to do in the future as well, because it is not just about re-establishing a place in international football for female players who have fled Afghanistan.
The goal is to establish structures and establish the base on which Afghan women's football can be built. “This will be a team that stands up to the Taliban because the Taliban is eliminating the presence of women in society,” Bhopal said.
“We will play football to defend the women of our country. “When the players get on the field, they are also playing for the women in Afghanistan who are not allowed to do so.”
The rest of the young women in the national team share the opinion of the former captain. Through football, midfielder Karimi seeks to draw more attention to her friends and all women in her homeland. “I can raise my voice through the way I play football,” she adds. “I can raise my voice from inside the field.”
"These girls are our future"
Despite the long and arduous struggle for human rights denied to women by the Taliban, Bhopal remains relentless. The women who wear the national team jersey today should not be the last generation.
They are supposed to pass on the experience they gained in exile. This is perhaps Bhopal's greatest hope: that its players will ultimately not just be on the pitch, but will form the infrastructure for a new generation of Afghan women's football.
“I believe Afghanistan will not stay like this forever. These dark days will pass,” Bhopal says, looking at her team. “These girls will become the next coaches of the Afghan women’s national team, the next directors of football academies, the next president or ministers of our country.” This is the future you imagine. “This is exactly why we invest in these girls: because they are the future.”
Prepared in Arabic by: M.A.M
