Members of the Afghan women’s soccer team arrive in Pakistan

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Former Afghanistan women’s team captain Khalida Popal said she helped with the evacuation process, tweeting: “I am happy to announce that once with great support I was able to pull off more of 79 young women footballers and family members of Afg “.

Players entered Pakistan through the Torkham border crossing with valid travel documents, according to Pakistani Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry.

“We welcome the Afghanistan women’s football team after arriving at the Torkham border from Afghanistan; the players had a valid Afg passport, the Pak visa, and were received by Nouman Nadeem from PFF, ”Chaudhry said in a tweet.

Aamir Dogar, vice president of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), said on Twitter: “It was possible after a sincere effort by officials of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) and the Government of Pakistan.” .

In a video interview with AFP, a mother of a player arriving in Pakistan said, “My name is Nafeesa, I am Fatima’s mother and my daughter is a Herat player in Afghanistan … thank you very much for l “help Pakistan and also Lahore. Many thanks to other people who have helped us.”

“The government encouraged my daughter, but the new government does not encourage my daughters because my daughter wants to study in college. So then she wants to play football. Therefore, the Taliban do not allow them to play football or exercise in Afghanistan, ”he added.

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It is not clear exactly how many Afghan players and their families were able to enter Pakistan, nor what plans they have in advance.

Earlier this month, a large number of women footballers and athletes were taken to safety on an evacuation flight to Australia amid the Taliban capture.

Members of the Afghanistan women’s soccer team arrive at the PFF in Lahore.
Former Afghan women’s assistant coach Haley Carter told CNN that a “cloth group” managed to coordinate the safe evacuation of 86 Afghan athletes, officials and relatives.

Carter worked closely with the team’s former captain, Popal, who had also spoken to CNN last month about the plight of athletes trapped in the country.

“We made it our mission to empower these women,” Carter explained.

“We wanted to create a football team that could compete internationally. But we all knew that this effort was much greater than football. We gave them the opportunity to use the sport to get out of the house, to get an education.” .

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