U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn and Jeff Merkley have sent a letter to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, urging the international football governing body to formally recognize Afghan Women United as Afghanistan’s national women’s football team. The senators are calling on FIFA to enforce its human rights commitments and prevent the Taliban from excluding Afghan women from international sports.
In their letter, Blackburn and Merkley stated: “We write to urge the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) to take decisive action to formally recognize Afghan Women United as Afghanistan’s national women’s football team and to ensure that Afghan women athletes are not erased from international competition by the Taliban’s repressive regime. These players have continued to train and compete in exile despite being banned from their own country. FIFA’s support and recognition are essential to safeguard their right to play and to uphold the integrity of the sport.”
Since 2021, when the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, restrictions on women and girls have increased, affecting their ability to receive education, travel, or participate in sports. The exiled Afghan women’s football team has continued training and competing abroad under difficult conditions. The senators noted: “Since the Taliban’s takeover in 2021, women and girls in Afghanistan have been stripped of their most basic freedoms, including the right to receive an education, travel freely, and participate in sports. Yet, the Afghan women’s team, now in exile, has shown extraordinary courage and perseverance by continuing to train, compete, and represent the spirit of their nation under unimaginably difficult circumstances. Their recent participation in a FIFA-supported tournament marked a powerful symbol of hope, but it also underscored a glaring truth: without formal recognition and consistent opportunities to compete, these women remain sidelined from the international stage. FIFA’s creation of an Afghan women’s refugee squad was an important step forward, but the players’ ultimate goal is to represent Afghanistan as their national women’s football team, and that goal remains unfulfilled.”
The letter further highlights FIFA’s obligations: “FIFA’s own statutes commit the organization to upholding human rights and promoting non-discrimination in sport. Those commitments must extend to the Afghan women who have lost their federation, their home field, and their right to play. One day, these brave athletes will hopefully be able to safely return home to play free from the repression of the Taliban. Until then, FIFA should ensure that they can continue to represent the millions of Afghan women who have either been forced to flee or remain under the Taliban’s brutal rule. FIFA has tools at its disposal. Yet despite its stated human rights standards, the body has too often failed to enforce them consistently. It should investigate Taliban-controlled the Afghan Football Federation for violations of those standards and consider restricting funding and access for federations that bar women from sport. Additionally, FIFA should take concrete action to recognize Afghan Women United as Afghanistan’s official national women’s football team, consistent with precedents in other contested or politically complex contexts.”
The full text of Blackburn’s and Merkley’s letter can be accessed online.
