Future of Afghan women’s football at stake after sex scandal surfaces

Former Afghanistan women’s football captain Khalida Popal, center, attends a training session in south London on March 30, 2018. (AFP/File)

• Male members, including AFF chief, accused of abusing players
• President Ghani orders an investigation into the matter

KABUL: They’ve survived a war and continue to face economic hardships and social taboo. Despite it all, several Afghan women, in recent years, have surged ahead to realize their dreams of representing their country in various sporting arenas around the world.
Some of them shone brighter than the others and were encouraged by the government’s initiatives to ensure greater participation of women in sports, resulting in several participating in overseas regional matches.
Their drive, passion, and commitment — coupled with the mushrooming of free media and freedom of speech in Afghanistan — inspired many others to follow suit and overcome cultural and familial restrictions to become athletes too.
However, all of that might be a thing of the past after reports surfaced this week whereby Khalida Popal, former captain for women’s football, alleged that male football players, including the head of the Afghan Football Federation (AFF), Keramuddin Karim, sexually abused women athletes.
On Wednesday, FIFA said that it had temporary suspended Karim, a directive which expires in 90 days and applies to all football-related activities at the national and international levels. FIFA added that the sanctions have been imposed “in connection with ongoing investigations concerning AFF officials, as reported by local authorities and published by some media”.
Earlier this week, the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) suspended six members of the AFF, including Karim, over the allegations against them. President Ashraf Ghani’s adviser, Fazel Fazly, said in a twitter post that the orders were issues after reviewing the allegations.
The developments also led to President Ghani ordering an investigation into the matter.
Women in parliament were hesitant to raise their voices publicly about the incident, but some opposed it nonetheless, Raihana Azad, a lawmaker, told Arab News. “It is a traditional society and we thought if we begin a debate about it at the parliament with TVs airing it live, then instead of making things good, it will cause more trouble,” she said.
“This (allegation) has seriously affected the morale of families and in the future, families can hardly dare to allow their daughters for outdoors sports,” she added. 
Popal’s comments were part of an interview with The Guardian in Denmark where she has been residing since 2016. A member of AFF, who requested to remain anonymous, acknowledged that sex abuse has been taking place in the AFF for quite some time.
But he said there were some “clean and honorable” people who had not even shaken hands with women players.
Popal, on her part, told Guardian that the abuses had taken place inside Afghanistan and at a training camp in Jordan last February.
Karim could not be reached for comment on Thursday.
“I know nothing about it,” he had told DW earlier this month. “The matter began in Jordan, where there was a training camp.”