Female football players evacuated from Afghanistan to Qatar

Qatar worked with FIFA to coordinate the evacuation of players, including some on the national team.

REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE: Concerns were raised for the safety of female athletes after the Afghan government fell, allowing the Taliban to take back control of Kabul after 20 years.

Female football players were evacuated from Afghanistan on Thursday on a flight to Doha, the Qatari government said.

“Around 100 footballers & their families including female players are on board,” tweeted Lolwah Al-Khater, Qatar's assistant foreign minister.

The 8th passengers flight from Kabul just arrived in Qatar. This is the biggest flight thus far with 357 passengers on board and for the first time we have citizens from New Zealand . Also around 100 footballers & their families including female players are on board pic.twitter.com/93ehot2urN

— لولوة الخاطر Lolwah Alkhater (@Lolwah_Alkhater) October 14, 2021

 

Qatar worked with FIFA to coordinate the evacuation of players, including some on the national team, who were taken to a compound with other evacuees to undergo coronavirus testing. It is unclear how long they will stay in Qatar.

The international players' union, FIFPRO, in August, helped secure seats on a flight out of Kabul for players from the Afghanistan women’s national team.

Concerns were raised for the safety of female athletes after the Afghan government fell much faster than publicly anticipated by the United States in August, allowing the Taliban to take back control of Kabul after 20 years.