Hamburg, Aug. 27, (dpa/GNA) – Three former players from the Afghan women’s national football team have criticized the governing body FIFA and asked for help for their teammates back in Afghanistan.
“We are very disappointed with FIFA. The cries for help are there and they are audible – they are loud. But FIFA is always a little late,” Mariam Gitti Ruhin told Sky Sport television.
Female football players were left behind in Afghanistan “because FIFA did not act quickly enough,” said Ruhin, who lives in the northern German city of Hamburg.
But she also said had not yet given up hope. “It is my duty as a national player, as a team-mate, to impart this hope and continue to fight from the outside. As long as we fight, they will fight too,” the 27-year-old said.
Shabnam Ruhin, 30, told Sky Sport that with the help of the international players’ union Fifpro a total of 77 people – including players, staff and their families – have been flown out of Afghanistan so far.
Mina Ahmadi added: “Our hope is that the girls who managed to flee will not be left alone and that FIFA will give them help.”
She said she hoped that there would be a possibility to give the women the feeling that the national team isn’t over.
But the former players are convinced that women’s football will not stand a chance in Afghanistan under the Islamist Taliban, who shocked the world and took over the country earlier this month.
The three players were active for the Afghan national team until 2018, when they resigned because of an abuse scandal within the association.
GNA