Making a point or two through the Beautiful Game
Zahra Mahmoodi evinced curiosity as she sat in the VIP Box, cheering for Afghanistan in the SAFF Championship football tournament. It later transpired that this enthusiastic Afghan supporter was also the captain of her country's national women's football team.
Dressed in jeans, a woollen kurta and a delicately placed black scarf, the 20-year-old keenly watched the men’s team in action, excited, and pensive too. Probe her, and she tells you how she hoped that women footballers in Afghanistan got a chance to be on an even keel with men.
However, that is a long way to go and Zahra and her other 24 team-mates are well aware of it.
In a society where the mind-set pertaining to women still remains medieval, Zahra and her team-mates live a secret life, almost, where they prefer to keep their involvement with football under the wraps.
“People will think I am a bad girl. So if someone in the street asks us where we are going, we tell them we are going shopping. My neighbours and even many relatives do not know I play football. Women playing football is still new to Afghanistan,” said the 20-year-old defender, who was on a one-day visit to New Delhi to get a visa for Malaysia to attend a football conference.
To raise a team, Zahra recounts how they had to visit the homes of the young girls to convince their parents.
“Some of the girls along with our football sports committee chief went to speak to the parents, assuring them no men will be present during the training and that the girls will play football with their bodies and head covered. Some agreed, some didn’t,” she smiled.
The Afghan women national team was finally formed in 2007 and Zahra, a Manchester United fan, termed their final appearance in a 2007 Pakistan tournament as most memorable.
Quite a few schools in Afghanistan today have included football in their curriculum with sports teachers being given rudimentary knowledge of the game. These school girls often come to train with the national team but Zahra said most parents are not aware that they play football.
“Even I did not tell my parents for the first two years that I play football. It’s been five years now and I think my father is still somewhat angry with me,” shrugged Zahra, a physical education student and a member of the women’s football committee.
As of now, the players’ immediate concern remains a proper training ground.
They train at the ISAF headquarters where they are often interrupted by helicopter landings.
“We practice for five minutes and then we hear a helicopter coming down and we have to run indoors. Imagine, girls are not even allowed to run on streets in Afghanistan and here we are pushed to do that so frequently,” she said.
Though desirous of better facilities and infrastructure, Zahra says she and her friends do no mind these obstacles as long as they are allowed to play football. “There are so many problems for women in Afghanistan. There are so many ethnic tribes and groups and there is tension between them. But when we play football, we forget everything. We are all friends. We enjoy being with each other.”
The Taliban threat still looms on Afghanistan and Zahra says there have been instances of acid attacks on women walking on the streets without burqa. Zahra and her friends have been undeterred though.
“I was lucky that my parents moved to Iran and I was born there. We love playing football and support peace in the world.”
