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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| IWPR - Afghan girls play football |
| 2004-04-25 |
| EFL Hazifullah Gardesh is an IWPR trainer and editor. Mohammed Jawad is an independent journalist. As I have noted in the past, when compared to Rooters or BBC journaists, I find IWPR journalists to be more likely to appreciate freedom, notice incremental progress and present stories in ballanced fashion. No longer satisfied to sit on the sidelines, young female athletes have traded in their burqas for sports jerseys, laced up their cleats and charged onto the football pitch. They are doing what young Afghan women could only have dreamed of just three years ago, and sometimes are still prevented from doing. âI believe that women should play all sports,â said Maliha Ghani Baraki, a coach at the Zarghona High School in the centre of Kabul. âI wanted the people to know women can do whatever men do.â Her team has 12 players, all in their teens. They play on a small field at the school, shielded from public view behind a wall, and wear uniforms and shoes provided by the Afghan Olympic Committee. To play, they must be appropriately covered, which means long-sleeved shirts, sweatpants and scarves. Each player must have written permission from her family. So far, the response to the team has been positive. âWe have not faced any obstacles yet,â Baraki said. Her biggest challenge has been to find a suitable pitch on which to play. Baraki said her dream would be to see Afghan women compete on the international level. Itâs a dream shared by Fareda, a 17-year-old player who said she had âwanted to join a football team before, but there wasnât anyâ. She said she watches football on television and especially admirers the Brazilian player, Renaldo, and the French-Algerian player, Zinuddin Zidan. Hania, 15, said she became interested in football after watching it on television. The ninth grader said her favourite teams are from Brazil and Argentina. There are other womenâs football teams in Afghanistan as well. The Maiwand girlâs football team was formed as part of the private Hamza-e-sayadushohaddah sports club, located west of Kabul. The team has 26 female players, aged 14 to 21. They practice indoors in a hall 11 metres long, 8 m wide and just 2.5 m high. Club director Musa Jafari formed the club when he noticed a growing interest among women in football. Some 56 girls now participate in various sports at the club, he said. Although the club charges its male members a monthly fee of 80 afghanis, Jafari does not charge girls because he wants to promote their participation in sports. âWithin two months I discovered that girls [were] talented, and I hope that we are prepared for football matches inside and outside the country,â Jafari said. Like Baraki, Jafari said the biggest problem is finding a suitable place for games. He said he is currently seeking financial assistance to build an indoor gymnasium where the girls can play. Meena, 14, who along with her family returned to Afghanistan from Iran, said she was inspired to play football after watching games on television. She said she approached Jafari about forming a team and he agreed. While Meena said her family encourages her to play sports, she admitted that boys sometimes harass her and her teammates. âSome boys are annoying us,â she complained. âSome shout, âathlete.ââ Meenaâs teammate Zuhra, 14, also returned to Afghanistan from Iran after the collapse of the Taleban. For her, âAfghanistan [didnât exist] before. Afghanistan was established after the collapse of Taleban. It is total freedom now,â she said. The female footballers even have the support of some of their male counterparts. Ahmad Khesro, 21, a member of Kabulâs professional Pamer team, said, âWe are happy and wish that our women can compete in international levelsâ. But he acknowledged that female athletes still face social obstacles. âOur society is backward, so women [must] play [indoors].â Sayad Zia Muzafri, director of the Afghan football federation, said his organization supports womenâs sports. âWe plan to improve womenâs sports,â he said, adding that his organisation would like to provide better playing facilities, good trainers, coaches and equipment. But before that can happen, Muzafri said that the federation and other organisations need to change public opinion so that female athletes are not only accepted, but supported. IWPR provides coverage of Iraq, Central Asia, the Balkans, and the War Crimes Tribunal as well as Afghanistan. |
| Posted by:Super Hose |
| #8 I almost missed this one. This is cool. And the women are in their teens, I was expecting them to be kindergarten age when, when like our little girls can go without their tops on, they can go without a headscarf or burka. |
| Posted by: B 2004-04-26 7:12:38 AM |
| #7 Shsssshhhhhhh. Keep women off teams, it's our only chance. |
| Posted by: Samson 2004-04-25 5:55:41 PM |
#6 The left needs to live in Saudi ArabiaDon't we wish! It might change their minds about a lot of things, but it would certainly leave us a better country while they were gone. Any way we can get them to all go at the same time? |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-04-25 12:06:09 PM |
| #5 The left hates sports. The left hates women who play sports. ... WhatEVER! |
| Posted by: Mike Sylwester 2004-04-25 12:04:52 PM |
| #4 The left hates sports. The left hates women who play sports. The left hates women who play sports who display those horrible, competitive tendencies such as pride, honor, personal hygiene, fair play, personal confidence, etc. The left love their 'wimyn' in bags. The left wants to go back to the 'good old days. The left needs to live in Saudi Arabia. |
| Posted by: badanov 2004-04-25 10:30:48 AM |
| #3 Think this bit of good news will be read by Susan Sarandon at this bullshit "March for Women" today on the White House lawn? No takers on that??Me either. |
| Posted by: debbie 2004-04-25 9:13:20 AM |
| #2 Can't think of a better argument in favor of the Afgan Campagin.Any thing to say Antiw. |
| Posted by: raptor 2004-04-25 7:48:42 AM |
| #1 I reviewed the IWPR booklet that hey have prepared for potential Afghan journalists. I am impressed by it, but I am not a journalist. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-04-25 3:38:12 AM |