Women banned from sport in Afghanistan: international bodies must react!

Virginie Phulpin 7:24 am, September 10, 2021

Women are no longer allowed to play sports in Afghanistan.

The Taliban forbid them.

And this is further proof that sport is indeed an important marker of human rights, and international sports bodies must react. 

We are not going to pretend to be surprised.

The Taliban had already banned women from playing sports in Afghanistan when they were in power between 1996 and 2001. And even today, they use the same justifications.

Sport would not be "a necessity" for women.

Virginie Phulpin uses quotes, these are obviously not her words.

And then sports dress codes can cause women to expose their bodies, which is against the rules set by the Taliban. Sport in Afghanistan is not just kicking a ball, running or jumping. It is a tool of emancipation for women, a conquest of freedom, and an act of resistance. The national women's football team, for example, at the grassroots, was created precisely to fight against the ideology of the Taliban.

For 20 years, these women did everything to be visible, they sought to exist through sport.

And today, the regime is erasing them.

Many Afghan sportswomen have left their country, they knew they were threatened with death precisely because they are sportswomen.

Others have removed their medals and sports equipment.

They have no other choice if they want to survive.

Banning Afghan women from sport is not to deprive them of the ball, it is to deny their human condition.

The Taliban explain that women can go out to meet their needs, such as shopping.

But sport, no, that is not a necessity.

Virginie Phulpin has rarely seen such sad sentences. 

Do international sports bodies have the means to act? 

One of the first consequences of this sports ban for Afghan women is the disappearance of the women's cricket team. Cricket has been a major sport in Afghanistan since the 2000s. As it turns out, the men's national team has several matches scheduled for this fall. However, the International Cricket Council requires that its members have a female team. We must not let go of this rule. Since there is no longer a women's team, the men's team should not be able to play these international matches. Bar point.

Virginie Phulpin is not saying that it will bend the Taliban, let's not be naive, but it is already a means of pressure.

And there are others.

She is thinking of the Paris 2024 games. The IOC should not accept male Afghan athletes if women are still deprived of sport in their country.

We cannot play parity games by accepting that a country which deprives half of its population of sport is represented.

In fact, Afghanistan must be excluded from all international sporting competition as long as women are banned from sport.

The sports movement knows how to show solidarity when necessary.

We often talk about the famous values ​​of sport.

There is the moment or never to prove that it is not just a hollow expression.