FIFA Confirms the Formation of Afghanistan Women's Football Team in Exile: A Historic Moment for Afghan Women Athletes

Photo: Melbourne Victory | X

The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), with the approval of a special strategy, has officially agreed to form the Afghanistan Women's Football Team in Exile. This decision, described by FIFA President Gianni Infantino as a "historic moment," came in response to repeated requests from Afghan female players and human rights organizations.

According to the official statement released by FIFA on Friday (May 9), the team, named the "Afghanistan Women's Refugee Team (AWRT)," will initially operate on a trial basis for one year. The purpose of this trial phase is to assess the feasibility of continuing the project long-term and to create a model for supporting similar teams among refugees from other countries.

The team will consist of Afghan female footballers who fled Afghanistan after the Taliban's takeover and are now living as refugees in various countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Australia, and Albania.

FIFA announced that members of this team will be allowed to participate in official friendly matches and tournaments organized under the federation's supervision. However, this step has not yet addressed the main demand of Afghan players for official recognition as Afghanistan's national team and participation in World Cup and Asian Championship qualifiers.

After the fall of the republic and the return of the Taliban to power in 2021, all women's sports activities in Afghanistan were halted, and the Afghanistan Women's National Football Team was disbanded. The last official match of the team was held in 2018. Since then, Afghanistan has not participated in any international women's football competitions, and the country's name has been removed from FIFA's global rankings for women's teams.

The FIFA president stated, "We are committed to giving every girl in the world the opportunity to play football. This initiative is not only a step towards justice and equality but also an important move to fight discrimination and support the growth of women's football."

Although the Afghanistan Football Federation still retains its official FIFA membership, under Taliban control and the complete ban on women's sports, the federation has taken no steps to revive women's sports teams and has not been suspended by FIFA.

The FIFA statement emphasized that the organization is directly in contact with Afghan female players and is working to start the activities of this team as soon as possible. FIFA has also committed to providing a safe and supportive environment to ensure the physical and mental well-being of the players.

Afghan female players who have been striving for years to gain recognition for their team are now witnessing a significant step toward realizing this goal. However, they still hope that one day they can compete under their country's official flag in international fields.