After fleeing from Taliban, Afghanistan's football team find refuge in Pakistan

Image used for representational purpose

Afghanistan's junior women's football team along with their family members arrived in Lahore, Pakistan on Wednesday. The migration of the team comes after the country was taken over by the Taliban last month. 

As per latest inputs, a Pakistani NGO has also sought for assistance from the government to help the players settle in other countries. Shahid Khokhar, a member of the FIFA's reconciliation committee, also stated that the team are planning to eventually settle in Qatar, who also are the reigning Asian Champions. 

In the previous regime under the Islamist group two decades ago, girls in Afghanistan were barred from attending schools and women were not allowed to work. They were also prohibited from taking part in sports, which is likely to continue in the current regime as well.

Since Taliban's takeover, many ex and current women footballers have fled the country. A former captain of the team also appealed to the players stuck in Afghanistan to burn their sports gear and delete their social media accounts to avoid any reprisals.

Meanwhile, the sport's governing body FIFA had stated last month that they are working on the evacuation process of those who are still stuck in the country.