A FIFA rule change allowing Afghanistan’s women footballers to compete in official matches is a “historic moment” and “basic human right”, former captain Khalida Popal told AFP on Thursday.
Afghanistan will in future be eligible to qualify for the Women’s World Cup and the Olympics, something Popal said was the culmination of a “long fight”.
“I woke up this morning imagining a young Afghan girl opening her eyes and saying, ‘I’ve got the right to play’. This is a basic human right,” Popal said from Copenhagen.