Human Rights Watch and the Sport & Rights Alliance are urging FIFA to recognize the Afghan women’s football team in exile, citing ongoing gender discrimination that threatens to exclude the team from major international competitions.
In a report released Tuesday by the Sport & Rights Alliance, titled "It’s not just a game. It’s part of who I am: Afghan Women Footballers’ Fight for the Right to Play," advocates detailed the team’s struggle since the Taliban’s 2021 takeover of Afghanistan. The report calls on FIFA to end the team’s exclusion and facilitate their return to global events, including the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers and the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Without FIFA’s intervention, the team—relocated to countries like Portugal, Albania, the United Kingdom, and the United States—faces a second consecutive World Cup qualification cycle on the sidelines, according to Human Rights Watch.
Samira Hamidi, South Asia campaigner at Amnesty International, said: "Though the Afghanistan Women’s National Team escaped the Taliban in 2021, the shadow of systematic gender discrimination continues to follow them across borders, denying them their rightful place on the international stage." She added: "Amnesty, along with the United Nations, Human Rights Watch and other civil society organizations, has called for the Taliban’s gender persecution to be investigated as crimes against humanity."
The team, once a symbol of women’s empowerment in Afghanistan, has faced retaliatory actions from the Taliban, the report states. Under current FIFA rules, the team requires recognition from the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF), which bans women’s sports and refuses to acknowledge the squad.
Khalida Popal, the team’s founder, said: "Right now, the game is at halftime, and the Taliban think they are winning. If FIFA would change its rules and let us play, we could show the world that Afghan women and girls belong in sport, in school and everywhere in society – and we will not be defeated."
FIFA responded to the Sport & Rights Alliance on March 21, stating it has a plan to provide football opportunities for Afghan women inside and outside Afghanistan. However, it offered no clarity on recognizing the team or allocating funds, despite its statutes prohibiting gender discrimination and pledging to promote women’s football.
Andrea Florence, executive director of the Sport & Rights Alliance, said: "Afghan women footballers’ ability to play internationally depends entirely on intervention from FIFA." The alliance also pressed FIFA to fund the team’s training and competition costs, as it does for other member associations.
The campaign, ongoing for over three years, has garnered global support. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai and nearly 200,000 petitioners have called for FIFA recognition. Fereshta Abbasi, Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: "For these athletes, football is not only their passion but a fundamental act of resistance against the Taliban – an act of solidarity with their sisters still living in Afghanistan. FIFA’s recognition of and support for the team would be a powerful statement that Afghan women’s rights cannot be erased."
The International Olympic Committee’s recognition of the Afghanistan National Olympic Committee in exile allowed Afghan women to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics, setting a precedent advocates hope FIFA will follow.
