Afghanistan's women football team captain calls on FIFA to save team mates

• The Afghan Football Federation has given up on the team, says Mobarez. 
• Football was meant to empower women, it can now potentially endanger women, Mobarez adds. 
• Britain promised to evacuate some 5,000 refugees from Afghanistan. 

US-based Afghan football captain, Shabnam Mobarez, called on the world football governing body to intervene and save her teammates from the Taliban as the country was taken over last week, the Daily Mail reported Friday. 

Following the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban, the future of Afghan women remains uncertain as the group's previous rule (1996-2001) severely suppressed women. 

The national women's football team captain Shabnam Mobarez asked FIFA to help her fellow teammates.

Mobarez posted on her Twitter her exchange with her friend. The friend in response to Mobarez's question about being okay responded: “No I am not — I know they will come for me soon, can you help me?”

Mobarez tagged FIFA and asked what she can tell her friend. She urged the football governing body to act to save her teammates. 

In the Afghan rule from 1996-2001, Afghan women were not allowed to work, study or appear in public unless they were accompanied by a male chaperone or wearing a full-body covering. Women who violated such laws became victims of public floggings and executions. 

Following the 2001 US intervention, the Taliban were ousted from power. The Afghanistan women's football team was formed in 2007, with the squad playing their first-ever competitive match in 2012 against Qatar.  

When the Taliban took over the country last week, former national team captain Khalida Popal urged all the women players to delete social media accounts and burn their kits to protect their identities and lives. 

'Helpless' 

Mobarez while talking to Tribuna Expresso stated that football was a way to empower women in Afghanistan but now she feels "helpless". 

She added: "We tried to use football as a tool to give women a new voice and make them fight for their rights, but now it seems that football is something that can endanger them, and potentially kill them, which is heartbreaking." 

She said that she is in regular contact with her teammates through WhatsApp and tries to lift their spirits up. She added that she used to tell the players that they will overcome everything, however, now she is not so sure. 

"Now, when I talk to them, they cry on the phone and fear for their lives. I can't tell them it's going to be okay, because I'm not sure what's going to happen tomorrow, or a week from now," Mobarez stated. 

Afghan Football Federation has given up

Mobarez further revealed that the Afghan Football Federation has given up on the team, hence she is pleading to FIFA. She explained that the federation members are hidden in the homes of family and friends. 

She said: "It looks like the people who had the money left and now we have all these helpless women left to fend for themselves." 

The football captain said that her teammates cannot even leave the house right now as the situation is tense, acknowledging that the best thing to do is to wait for the situation to calm down. 

Footballer dies trying to escape Kabul

Earlier in the week, Zaki Anwari, 19, a footballer in the Afghan national youth team died when he became trapped in the landing gear of a US evacuation flight. 

Anwari had rushed to the airport following the takeover by the Taliban and joined thousands of Afghans in chasing after the aeroplane in an attempt to escape.

Anwari's death was confirmed by the General Directorate of Physical Education & Sports of Afghanistan, Arian News reported on Thursday.

The United States Force has responded by saying that the pilot had decided to take off because the jet "was surrounded" and there was a "rapidly deteriorating security situation around the aircraft". 

Britain to evacuate Afghan staff and refugees 

Reports in the media indicate that Britain has promised to evacuate some 7,000 UK citizens and Afghan staff from the country in addition to 5,000 refugees, however, the Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey stated, "we don't have it in our gift to stay there until absolutely everyone is out".

Britain evacuated some two thousand people from Kabul between 15 and 16 August and is aiming to evacuate 1,000 more people as flights are still operational. 

In total 3,800 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan by Britain which includes more than 600 UK citizens and thousands of Afghans under the resettlement scheme.