The Taliban, which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is an Afghan political and militant movement with an ideology comprising elements of Pashtun nationalism and the Deobandi movement of Islamic fundamentalism. It ruled approximately 75% of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, before it was overthrown by an American invasion after the September 11 attacks carried out by the Taliban's ally al-Qaeda. The Taliban recaptured Kabul in August 2021 following the departure of coalition forces, after 20 years of Taliban insurgency, and now controls the entire country. The Taliban government is not recognized by any country and has been internationally condemned for restricting human rights, including women's rights to work and have an education.
The treatment of women by the Taliban includes the actions and policies by two distinct Taliban regimes in Afghanistan which are either specific or highly commented upon, mostly due to discrimination, since they first took control in 1996. During their first rule of Afghanistan, the Taliban were notorious internationally for their misogyny and violence against women. In 1996, women were mandated to wear the burqa at all times in public. In a systematic segregation sometimes referred to as gender apartheid, women were not allowed to work, nor were they allowed to be educated after the age of eight. Women seeking an education were forced to attend underground schools, where they and their teachers risked execution if caught. They were not allowed to be treated by male doctors unless accompanied by a male chaperone, which led to illnesses remaining untreated. They faced public flogging and execution for violations of the Taliban's laws.
Women's association football, more commonly known as women's football or women's soccer, is the team sport of association football played by women. It is played at the professional level in multiple countries, and 187 national teams participate internationally. The same rules, known as the Laws of the Game, are used for both women's and men's football.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, also referred to as the First Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, was a totalitarian Islamic state led by the Taliban that ruled most of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. At its peak, the Taliban government controlled approximately 90% of the country, while remaining regions in the northeast were held by the Northern Alliance, which maintained broad international recognition as a continuation of the Islamic State of Afghanistan.
Bacha bāzī refers to a pederasty practice in Afghanistan in which men exploit and enslave adolescent boys for entertainment and/or sexual abuse. The man exploiting the young boy is called a bacha baz. Typically, the bacha baz forces the bacha to dress in women's clothing and dance for entertainment. The practice is reported to continue into the present as of 2025.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) people in the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan face severe challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Afghan members of the LGBTQ community are forced to keep their gender identity and sexual orientation secret, in fear of violence and the death penalty. The religious nature of the country has limited any opportunity for public discussion, with any mention of homosexuality and related terms deemed taboo.
Human rights in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime are severely restricted and considered among the worst in the world. Women's rights and freedom are severely restricted, as they are banned from most public spaces and employment. Afghanistan is the only country in the world to ban education for women over the age of eleven. Taliban's policies towards women are usually termed as gender apartheid. Minority groups such as Hazaras face persecution and eviction from their lands. Authorities have used physical violence, raids, arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, enforced disappearances of activists and political opponents.
Gender apartheid is the economic and social sexual discrimination against individuals because of their gender or sex. It is a system enforced by using either physical or legal practices to relegate individuals to subordinate positions. Feminist scholar Phyllis Chesler, professor of psychology and women's studies, defines the phenomenon as "practices which condemn girls and women to a separate and subordinate sub-existence and which turn boys and men into the permanent guardians of their female relatives' chastity". Instances of gender apartheid lead not only to the social and economic disempowerment of individuals, but can also result in severe physical harm.
Afghanistan has competed in 16 Summer Games. They have never appeared in any Winter Games. The country made its first appearance at the Berlin Games in 1936. It has sent a delegation to 14 of the 19 subsequent Summer Games since then. It is organised by the National Olympic Committee of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The Committee is currently in exile and presided by Hafizullah Wali Rahimi: the International Olympic Committee has not recognized the Taliban regime's Committee, headed by Ahmadullah Wasiq.
Women's rights in Afghanistan are severely restricted by the Taliban. In 2023, the United Nations termed Afghanistan as the world's most repressive country for women. Since the US troops withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban gradually imposed restrictions on women's freedom of movement, education, and employment. Women are banned from studying in secondary schools and universities, making Afghanistan the only country to prohibit females from studying beyond the sixth grade. Women are not allowed in parks, gyms, or beauty salons. They are forbidden from going outside for a walk or exercise, from speaking or showing any part of their face or body outside the home, or even from singing or reading from within their own homes if they could be heard by strangers outside. In extreme cases, women have reportedly been subjected to gang-rape and torture in Taliban prisons.
The Afghanistan women's national football team was the women's national team of Afghanistan until the fall of Kabul in August 2021. They played under the authority of the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF).
The Afghanistan women's national cricket team was the team that represented the country of Afghanistan in international women's cricket matches. The team was first established in 2010, but played only a single tournament amidst opposition from Islamists opposed to women's sport. An attempt at revival was made in 2020 when the Afghanistan Cricket Board awarded central contracts to 25 players. However, the team was disbanded following the 2021 Taliban offensive and capture of Kabul in accordance with the Taliban's ban on women's sport.
Keramuddin Keram is an Afghan politician who served as Governor of Panjshir Province from 21 April 2010 until 2 November 2013. Keram served as the President of the Afghanistan Football Federation from 2004 until 2019, when he was banned from football for life by FIFA after being accused of sexual abuse by several players from the Afghanistan women's national football team. Keram is currently at large despite an indictment and arrest warrant being issued against him.
Women's football in Norway is one of the traditional powers of women's football. The Norwegian Women's Football Championship is a tournament reserved for women's football teams divided into six levels, consisting of a national championship in the top three under the management of the Norwegian Football Association (NFF), while the lower ones are managed by various regional associations. Toppserien is the biggest football division in Norway by importance and is followed by the 1st division hierarchy. The Norwegian football system consists of a series of alloys linked to each other by hierarchy through promotions and relegations. In each division the teams face an Italian round with round-trip matches. Three points are assigned to the winning team, one point for each team in the event of a draw and zero points for the losing team.
Haley Carter is a former United States Marine Corps officer and retired American professional soccer player. She is currently the sporting director and vice president of soccer operations for Orlando Pride of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).
AFDP Global is an international football social enterprise and was launched in October 2018 at the Emirates Stadium in London. AFDP Global is the successor organisation to the Asian Football Development Programme (AFDP) which was founded by Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein in 2012 and focused on Asia and the Middle East. Its achievements included reaching over 80,000 young people directly through its projects; training over 500 coaches, administrators and referees in refugee camps, schools and clubs; distributing 100,000 footballs to young people's programmes and organisations and completing 30 projects reaching 25 countries. AFDP Global extends this remit so as to reach more children in disadvantaged communities worldwide.
On 15 August 2021, Afghanistan's capital city of Kabul was captured by the Taliban after a major insurgent offensive that began in May 2021. It was the final action of the War in Afghanistan, and marked a total victory for the Taliban. This led to the overthrowing of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan under President Ashraf Ghani and the reinstatement of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan under the control of the Taliban.
The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was a presidential republic in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2021. The state was established to replace the Afghan interim (2001–2002) and transitional (2002–2004) administrations, which were formed after the 2001 United States invasion of Afghanistan that had toppled the partially recognized Taliban-ruled Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. However, on 15 August 2021, the country was recaptured by the Taliban, which marked the end of the 2001–2021 war, the longest war in US history. This led to the overthrow of the Islamic Republic, led by President Ashraf Ghani, and the reinstatement of the Islamic Emirate under the control of the Taliban. While the United Nations still recognizes the Islamic Republic as the legitimate government of Afghanistan, this toppled regime controls no portion of the country today, nor does it operate in exile; it effectively no longer exists. The Islamic Emirate is the de facto ruling government. The US–Taliban deal, signed on 29 February 2020 in Qatar, was one of the critical events that caused the collapse of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). Following the deal, the US dramatically reduced the number of air attacks and deprived the ANSF of a critical edge in fighting the Taliban insurgency, leading to the Taliban takeover of Kabul.
Zakia Khudadadi is a Hazara parataekwondo practitioner. She is the first Afghan female taekwondo practitioner. She rose to prominence after winning the African International Parataekwondo Championship in 2016 at the age of 18. She represented Afghanistan at the 2020 Summer Paralympics. She was initially denied the opportunity to compete at her first Paralympics due to the Taliban takeover but was later allowed by the International Paralympic Committee to compete in the event after being safely evacuated from Afghanistan. She was able to compete and became the first Afghan female Paralympic competitor to compete at the Paralympics in 17 years since Mareena Karim's participation at the 2004 Summer Paralympics. She also officially became the first Afghan female sportsperson to participate in an international sporting event after the Taliban takeover and the first-ever member of the Refugee Paralympic Team to win a medal.
Farkhunda Muhtaj is an Afghan footballer who plays as a midfielder for Calgary Wild FC of the Northern Super League. She was the captain of the Afghanistan national team and a key figure in the evacuation of the Afghanistan girls youth team from the country following the 2021 Taliban takeover.
