Women Afghan athletes differ on whether Olympic ban will help their cause

There have been times in the history of sports where loud calls for boycotting certain countries have rung throughout the land.

South Africa and Russia are some of the most prominent examples of country's whose apartheid policies or state-sponsored doping programs stood in contravention of the Olympic charter. Most recently, there have been calls to ban Israel from the Paris Olympics this summer because of the conflict in Gaza.

But one lesser-known call for a country's ban is coming from some Afghan women who want the Taliban-regime governed country to be banned from the Games. 

Since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, the thriving sports communities for women and girls have been decimated and a ban on female participation in sport has been imposed. Prior to the Taliban enacting its version of Sharia Law, women and girls were coaches, officials and leaders in the sports ecosystem.

I remember hearing about and falling in love with Skateistan, an incredible organization that was founded by my friend, Oliver Percovich, to use skateboarding to encourage young girls prior to the Taliban takeover. It even inspired various films and documentaries on the successful culture of sport and empowerment of Afghan girls. 

This deplorable forced separation of sports and women has not killed the dreams of competing nor yearning for justice from Afghan women all over the world. There are calls to ban Afghanistan as an official Olympic nation, but let women athletes from there compete with the Refugee Olympics team (ROT) as some did at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Friba Rezayee was one of the first two women to represent Afghanistan at an Olympics (sprinter Robina Muqimyar was the other) when she competed in judo at the Athens Olympics in 2004. Afghan athletes had been banned the previous Olympiad in Sydney in 2000 for not permitting women to compete.

"I was introduced to a dojo by my high school sports teacher," she told me via email. "The dojo was supported by a Norwegian non-profit called Judo for fred, which means "judo for peace" [in Norwegian.] They encouraged women and girls to join the sport of judo, and I did. Once I started playing judo, I fell in love with it. I could see myself playing for a long time, because it was a high-energy sport, and it matched my energy."

But outside of judo, Rezayee and other women athletes's lives were controlled by men because of the patriarchal society in which Afghans live under the Taliban. 

"Each day I spent time at the dojo, I felt free, empowered and motivated to continue my fight for my rights," she said.

Sport gave Rezayee the confidence and opportunity to learn her value and power of possibility. 

Rezayee now lives in Vancouver and the 38-year-old is speaking out in her role as founder and executive director of Leaders of Tomorrow, an NGO empowering and inspiring Afghan women and girls around the world.

She maintains that the Taliban's hardline edict banning girls and women from sport activities should keep the country from being officially included in the Olympics.

IOC says its 'concerned'

This year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that Paris 2024 will be the first Olympics with equal participation of men and women's events, and this week the IOC said it is in "continuous dialogue" with the Afghan NOC. I'm not sure what "continuous dialogue" will do to help support and train athletes just mere months ahead of the Olympics when they haven't been allowed to train at all since August 2021. 

In June 2023, the IOC said it continues to be "extremely concerned" with the Taliban government blocking access to sport for women and girls. But again, the IOC has fallen short on any action. Perhaps they will remain "concerned" but busy themselves with lauding all other female athletes as the Olympics and Paralympics begin. Perhaps the plight of Afghan women is not a priority or these women are not loud enough or influential enough in the global sports community. 

There have been some signs of support. Cricket Australia has postponed a Twenty20 series against Afghanistan's men's team that was scheduled to be hosted by Afghanistan in Dubai in August. Cricket Australia said in a statement that it maintains "a commitment to supporting participation by women and girls in cricket around the world."

But not everyone feels that a ban on all Afghans would benefit the cause. Khalida Popal, former soccer player from Afghanistan, is the co-founder of Girl Power, an organization to empower girls. Now based out of Denmark, Popal doesn't believe that banning all Afghan athletes will help the situation for women and girls in Afghanistan.

"Those are also athletes who have really fought hard for their dreams with all the challenges existing in Afghanistan," she told me via text. "We hoped and still have hopes that those Afghan male athletes who have the possibility to advocate for women athletes do that and use their platform." 

It begs the question: would banning Afghanistan just completely dim the lights on any dissent and silence the plight of women and girls? Would it be a too-convenient non-solution? If the country is banned, then thinking of a solution or steps to create better systems of access for women and girls would be moot for the IOC and the Afghan NOC.

Female athletes 'left behind'

Still, Rezayee is adamant that while Taliban are using sports stadiums to publicly execute Afghans, and continue to ban women from sport, they should not be allowed to participate.

"Most of our female athletes and teams have been left behind. They're in hiding, terrified of the deadly consequences of being found," she said. "Lack of IOC's interest in prioritizing Afghan women's sports teams has contributed to discrimination against them, and they are left under the mercy of the Taliban."

Let's be clear: this isn't a Muslim problem. Many Muslim-majority Olympic associations proudly amplify and support their women athletes. This is a Taliban problem, and one the IOC needs to address immediately. 

As someone with ancestral ties to Afghanistan, and who has watched and written of the growth of women's sport in that country, it is heartbreaking and enraging to me that women and girls are rejected and dismissed from places where they naturally thrive. Freedom in sport is supposed to be for everyone.