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Sporting Witness, Sporting Witness, The struggle for women's football in Afghanistan

Sporting Witness

Sporting Witness

The struggle for women's football in Afghanistan


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September 9, 2021

9 minutes

Available for over a year

In the early 2000s, Afghan women and girls set up the country's first football teams. Now the Taliban has returned and women's sport has been banned. We speak to Shamila Kohestani, former captain of the Afghan women's team, about why she fought to play and why in Afghanistan, football was more than a game.

Photo: Woman's face painted with flag of Afghanistan (Getty Images)

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