- The former captain of the Afghan women’s football team is urging her teammates to burn their jerseys.
- She also suggested that they delete the photos to protect themselves from the Taliban.
- Popal herself was forced to seek asylum in Denmark in 2016 after she received death threats during her tenure as the president of the country’s Football Association.
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The former captain of the Afghan women’s national football team urged female players to protect themselves by burning their jerseys and removing traces of previous sports activities on social media.
“Today I called and told them, for their safety, write down their names, delete their identities, delete their photos. Even if I tell them to burn or get rid of your national team uniform,” Khalida Popal told Reuters In the video interview on August 18.
Popal added that she has always advocated that young women be strong and attractive. But now, she hopes that female sports athletes can stay safe by deleting their online history and flying under the radar.
Popal told Reuters: “This is painful for me, and it is painful for an activist who stands up and does everything possible to achieve and win the status of a female national team player.”
“In order to get the badge on the chest and have the right to represent our country in the competition, we are very proud,” she added.
Afghan outspoken women and activists are looking to a grim future
But the joy did not last long.Popal Received death threats Talking about the Taliban on national television in her capacity as the event director of the country’s women’s football association.She fled Afghanistan and Seeking asylum in Denmark in 2016.
“I tell every woman to stay strong. In general, women have the ability to do many things,” Popal said Agence France-Presse In an interview in 2018. “Men think that we play football against their honour, and women should stay in the kitchen and wash the dishes.”
She added that she and her friends were called prostitutes for participating in sports and described how she encouraged women to resist oppression.
“(Women) is like a hand. If we stand up as a person, like a finger, it is not strong enough. If it is two fingers, it is not strong enough,” she told AFP. “We must be united like a punch. If someone blocks our way, it’s like a punch in their face.”
Female activists trapped in Afghanistan are now worried about their lives under Taliban rule. Zarifa GafariA 27-year-old female mayor and feminist activist told the media British media iNews This week, the Taliban “will kill me for people like me.”
In total 46 senators are now urging the Biden administration to establish a separate visa pathway Afghan activists and female leaders fled the country, saying they faced “unparalleled danger”.
Women’s rights and freedoms The last time the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2001 was severely restricted. According to its strict Sharia law form, Women are required to wear quilts from head to toe and are not allowed to leave home unless they are accompanied by male relatives. 2001 U.S. State Department Report.
