Effort Underway to Save Afghanistan Women’s Football Team

They move from place to place at all times in a desperate attempt to escape the Taliban – girls whose lives are in danger simply because they chose to play a sport they loved.

An international effort to evacuate members of the Afghan national women’s football team, as well as dozens of family members and football federation staff, suffered a crushing setback last week after a suicide bomb attack at Kabul airport killed 169 Afghans and 13 US servicemen in a heartbreaking airlift.

Now frightened and desperate, the girls are worried about whether a distant coalition of former US military and intelligence officials, members of Congress, US allies, aid groups and the team captain Afghanistan Women’s National Council can bring them and their loved ones to safety.

“They are just amazing young girls who should be playing in the yard, playing on the swing, playing with their friends, and here they are in a very bad situation for doing nothing more than playing football,” said Robert McCreary, a former Congressional chief of staff and White House official under President George W. Bush who worked with special forces in Afghanistan. “We have to do whatever we can to protect them, to put them in a safe situation. “

The suicide bombing of the airport was carried out by Islamic State militants, sworn rivals of the Taliban. The U.S. military has acknowledged that during the airlift, it was coordinating to some extent with the Taliban who have set up checkpoints around the airport to control crowds and, in the last few days, have facilitated the evacuation of American citizens.

The Taliban tried to present a new image, promising amnesty to former opponents and saying they would form an inclusive government. Many Afghans do not trust these promises, fearing that the Taliban will quickly resort to the brutal tactics of their 1996-2001 regime, including denying girls and women access to school and work. The Taliban have been vague about their policy towards women so far, but have yet to issue sweeping repressive edicts.

Most of the Afghan women’s team, formed in 2007, were evacuated to Australia last week.

But girls, aged 14 to 16, and their families could also be targeted by the Taliban – not only because women and girls are prohibited from playing sports, but because they stood up for girls and women. active members of their communities, said Farkhunda Muhtaj, who is captain of the Afghanistan Women’s National Team and lives in Canada.

“They are devastated. They are desperate given the situation they find themselves in, ”said Muhtaj, who keeps in touch with the girls and urges them to stay calm.

There have been at least five failed attempts to save the girls in recent days as they have been moved for their safety, McCreary and Muhtaj said. They were “steps from freedom” when the suicide bombing took place, Muhtaj said.

The size of the group complicates the rescue effort: 133 people, including the 26 members of the youth team as well as adults and other children, including infants. Many do not have passports or other documents needed to board flights from Kabul.

McCreary said the mission – called Operation Soccer Balls – was working with other countries, in hopes the girls would eventually settle in the United States. He said Australia, France and Qatar have expressed interest in helping. He also urged the Taliban to facilitate the group’s exit, saying it would create goodwill.

“If we can put a protective bubble around these women and young girls… I really believe the world will stand up and take notice and have a lot of offers to welcome and house them,” McCreary said.

Former United States National Women’s Football Team captain Julie Foudy, two-time World Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist, said rescue efforts “increase the visibility of these young women. and their importance to equality and democracy and all those things that we value in this country.

“So many of us who can stand up as female athletes – as humans – and say, ‘This is a time when we need to come together and do what’s right,’ so we absolutely should. do, ”she said.

Nic McKinley, a CIA and Air Force veteran who founded Dallas-based DeliverFund, a nonprofit that has secured homes for 50 Afghan families, said he understands the United States focused on relocating Afghans who have helped US forces, but others who also need help.

“What about the little girl who just wants to kick a ball and wants to do it right, and who’s worked hard to do it at a world-class level who suddenly finds herself in danger just because she just wanted to play a sport and I had the passion to play this sport? ” he said. “The only thing they did wrong in the eyes of the Taliban … was the fact that they were born girls and had the audacity to dream of doing something.”

McCreary said the rescue team feels personally responsible because the United States has helped the girls go to school and play football.

“We have to protect them now,” he said. “They shouldn’t be in danger for the things we helped them do.”

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