Members of the Afghan women’s junior football team arrive in Pakistan



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Former Afghanistan women’s team captain Khalida Popal said she helped with the evacuation process, tweeting: “I am happy to report that once, with great support, j managed to get over 79 young footballers and their family members out of Afg. “

The players entered Pakistan through the Torkham border post with valid travel documents, according to Pakistani Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry.

“We welcome the Afghan women’s football team after arriving at the Torkham border from Afghanistan; the players were in possession of a valid Afg passport, a Pak visa, and they were received by Nouman Nadeem of PFF, “Chaudhry said in a tweet.

Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Vice President Aamir Dogar said on Twitter: “This was made possible by the sincere efforts of (the) Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) and (government) officials. of Pakistan “.

In a video interview with AFP, a mother of a player arriving in Pakistan said: “My name is Nafeesa, I am Fatima’s mother and my daughter is a player in Herat, Afghanistan … thank you very much for l ‘Help in Pakistan and also in Lahore. Thank you very much to the other people who have helped us. “

“The government encouraged my daughter, but the new government does not encourage my daughters because my daughter wants to study in college. So after that she wants to play football. So the Taliban does not allow girls or women to play football or exercise in Afghanistan, ”she added.

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It is not known exactly how many Afghan women players and their families were allowed into Pakistan, nor what their plans are.

Earlier this month, scores of footballers and athletes were airlifted to safety on an evacuation flight to Australia in connection with the Taliban takeover.

Members of the Afghan national women's football team arrive at the PFF in Lahore.
Former Afghan women’s assistant coach Haley Carter told CNN how a “motley group” managed to coordinate the safe evacuation of 86 Afghan athletes, officials and their families.

Carter worked closely with former team captain Popal, who also spoke to CNN last month regarding the plight of female athletes trapped in the country.

“We made it our mission to empower these women,” Carter explained.

“We wanted to create a football team that could compete internationally. But we all knew that this effort was something much, much bigger than football. We gave them the opportunity to use sport to come out of. home, to get an education. “

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