Introduction to the Afghan Football Team’s Struggle
More than a week after they were due to arrive in Dubai for their first FIFA-sanctioned match since being forced into exile by the Taliban, the Afghan footballers are still in limbo after their entry visas were repeatedly rejected. The Afghanistan women’s refugee team was scheduled to play its first match since 2021 against Chad on Thursday, October 23, 2025, as part of a four-team tournament billed as the FIFA Unites Women’s Series 2025.
The Team’s Situation and FIFA’s Response
Instead, the Afghan women’s team was turned away at airports several times, and FIFA gave no word on whether the tournament would go ahead. With the flight time from Australia, where the majority of the team is based, to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) being around 14 hours and visas still not resolved, it seems impossible to stick to the original tournament schedule. However, the tournament can still be found on FIFA’s website, and the world football governing body has not communicated any decisions or information.
Human Rights Lawyer’s Perspective
Human rights lawyer Alison Battisson helped the players escape Afghanistan in 2021 and then assisted them in documenting their stay in Australia. While FIFA is not allowing players to speak publicly for now, Battisson said the mood among them was understandably tense. "Without naming specific players, I think you could say that there is a general atmosphere of abandonment, trauma and disillusionment," she said. The story of this team is that it’s really not just about sports. It’s about women’s rights and freedom to be who they can be, especially for Afghan women, but also for women in other oppressed societies.
The Significance of the Team’s Participation
The Taliban brutally targets women, particularly those who play sports. Therefore, a football team’s participation in a FIFA tournament should be a significant step. Battisson, who deals with such refugee visa matters on a daily basis, said that the task of applying for visas would have fallen to FIFA but that it was likely blocked by the United Arab Emirates, which can process the applications indefinitely.
The Role of the United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates is one of the few countries that recognizes the Taliban at the diplomatic level. The Gulf state accepted the credentials of a Taliban-appointed diplomat as Afghanistan’s ambassador in 2024 and welcomed Taliban Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi to the country earlier this year. The United Arab Emirates also has a sizeable Afghan diaspora population of about 300,000 people in a country of about 10 million people. It is not a signatory to the United Nations Refugee Convention.
The Impact on the Players
The lack of concrete information about why the Afghan players’ visa applications were rejected and whether the tournament will take place at all – even at a later date – has left them in a bad position. "The women themselves are culturally embarrassed because they’ve been built up to be these hopefuls and a lot of people are against them. That just gives ammunition to the people who doubted them." The human rights lawyer added that in some cases the players’ families did not support their decision to play football and that their decision to do so still meant they were "targeted" by the Taliban.
The Future of the Team
What happens next is unclear. While FIFA remains silent, there are some reports that, having failed to cancel or postpone the tournament, the organization intends to move the tournament elsewhere, with Qatar and Jordan being mentioned. Battisson believes this would be a mistake as safety issues are a key concern for players and their families and the logistics of travel, training, and visas are almost insurmountable. Whatever happens, the wait and uncertainty continue for a group of players who have overcome so much to get to this point.
