The Afghanistan women’s volleyball team has complained about the training facilities at the Asian Games. The Afghan women will be creating history as they will be the first group of female athletes from the country to feature in a team event at the Asiad. However the team is concerned they will not be ready for the event.
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“We still haven’t been able to train,” said Khushal Malakzai, head of the Afghanistan Women’s Volleyball delegation. As quoted by Reuters, he said that the team had not been able to practise on a court since arriving in Hangzhou last Thursday.
Afghanistan has been granted only one training session on Thursday. It will be just two days before the women’s competition starts on Saturday. This differs from the usual norm of teams being able practice multiple times before an event.
“We need to have them training with the ball. I don’t know why they can’t have training for an hour or two when they have all these facilities. If they’re not training on court, then it’s like starting from zero,” added Malakzai.
Afghan Women competing in Asian Games against the wishes of Taliban
The current Taliban rule in Afghanistan forbids women to participate in sporting events. However 17 women from the country are set to participate in the Asian Games. They travelled to Hangzhou from abroad and will compete against the Talbian rule, with the backing of the OCA and the International Olympic Committee.
The delegation marched at the opening behind the country’s former, tri-colour flag which is used by international resistance movements and shunned by the Taliban. In Volleyball, the Afghan women are placed in Group D. They will be facing Japan, Kazakhstan and Hong Kong.
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