After Taliban’s takeover, former Afghan women’s football captain urges players to burn kits

With the Taliban taking over Afghanistan, the future of women in the country has become a concerning topic. Taliban are expected to run the state under Sharia Laws which is expected to negatively impact women’s rights in the country.

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Now, a former Afghanistan women’s football team captain has urged the players to burn their kits, delete social media, and erase public identities as the country has returned under the rule of the Taliban and they have killed, raped and stoned women in the past. 

Khalida Popal, who is also the co-founder of the Afghan women’s football league, said she had always used her voice to encourage young women “to stand strong, to be bold, to be visible” but now she had a different message.

“Today I’m calling them and telling them, take down their names, remove their identities, take down their photos for their safety. Even I’m telling them to burn down or get rid of your national team uniform,” she said in an interview to Reuters.

“And that is painful for me, for someone as an activist who stood up and did everything possible to achieve and earn that identity as a women’s national team player.

“To earn that badge on the chest, to have the right to play and represent our country, how much we were proud.”

According to Popal, football played a crucial role in empowering the women in her country and enabled them to take a strong stand for their rights and to defy those who would have them silenced.

“They are so afraid. They are worried, they are scared, not only the players, but also the activists… they have nobody to go to, to seek protection, to ask for help if they are in danger,” she said of the situation now.

“They are afraid that any time the door will be knocked.

“What we are seeing is a country collapsing,” she added. “All the pride, happiness to be there to empower women and men of the country is like it was just wasted.”

(Inputs from Agency)