Banned from football at home, Afghan women’s team reunite 8,000 miles away

BBC:

The changing room is busy with footballers going through their pre-match routines. Some stretch and tighten their boots, others embrace.

“Be strong as always because we are representing Afghan women,” says midfielder Fatima Haidari to fellow members of Afghan Women United.

Applause erupts in the room where an Afghan flag hangs and a patriotic song is played. As the women sing along some struggle to hold back tears.

There’s a final team huddle with words of encouragement from their coach before they head out to the pitch – a place that for years they had been told they did not belong.

The 23-player squad, selected from Afghan players now living abroad, has travelled to New Zealand for a training camp and to play two unofficial friendly games against the Cook Islands.

This is the first time they have been together since football governing body Fifa ruled in April that they could represent their country in official matches in the future.

Previously, they would have needed the approval of the Afghanistan Football Federation. This was not possible under the Taliban, who returned to power in August 2021, imposing wide-ranging restrictions on women and girls, including barring them from secondary school and university, most professions and organised sport.