Taliban has refused to recognise Afghan women athletes participating in the 2024 Paris Olympics. This announcement was confirmed by a sports official representing the Taliban, which has taken over Afghanistan since the U.S. withdrawal in 2021.
“Only three athletes (referring to the male competitors) are representing Afghanistan,” said Atal Mashwani, the spokesman for the Taliban government’s sports directorate, to the news agency AFP.
“Currently, in Afghanistan, girls’ sports have been stopped. When girls’ sport isn’t practiced, how can they go on the national team?” he added.
Dad Mohammad Payenda Akhtari, the committee’s CEO, lives in a Taliban-ruled country and claims that coordination was done with the Taliban regarding male candidates.
Six Afghanistan players are taking part in the Paris Olympics
A total of six athletes, including three women, most of whom are in exile, will be competing in the upcoming summer games.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has issued a clear statement regarding Afghan participation in the Paris Olympics. Taliban officials will be barred from attending the Paris games. IOC will only recognise the Afghan National Olympic Committee (NOC) as representing Afghan athletes.
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Five Afghan origin athletes compete as refugees.
Five Afghan athletes will compete in the Paris Olympics as part of the Refugee Olympic Team. These athletes, forced to flee due to the country’s political situation, will find refuge and a platform to excel in sports such as breaking, cycling, judo, and taekwondo. Notably, experienced Olympians Nigara Shaheen (judo) and Farzad Mansouri (taekwondo) will compete for a second time.
Afghanistan has been banned twice
Afghanistan was banned from the 1999 games, which took place during the Taliban’s first rule from 1996 to 2001.
Afghanistan was reinstated after the Taliban were ousted by the post-9/11 invasion, but the Paris games will be the first summer Olympics since their return.
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