Afghanistan has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. The latest that has brought the country to sharp focus has been their Taliban supremo announcing that women and women alone will be publicly flogged and stoned to death for adultery. So it is safe to say that as a woman residing in Afghanistan, speaking out against the regime, the supremo, and by that extension, the country, can be perilous. You cannot possibly raise your voice against your own leader, the people who clearly know what they're doing. who are responsible for your well-being. But why are we talking about this on a sports show? In such a scenario, it is difficult to imagine a woman, even if she's a rather accomplished one, voicing her opposition to the regime and the country.
The woman I'm talking about is an Olympian. In fact, the very first female Olympian to represent Afghanistan at a global event, Freeba Rezaizi. She's now 38 years old. She first took part at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, her event judoka she's a feisty competitor and you have to be. The sport is tough and physically draining being a combat sport. She took part in the tokyo olympics too some years ago and little did she know that that would be her last international appearance. The last time she would fight representing her country, Afghanistan, under the flag. Since the taliban regime took over in 2021, there has been a major clamp down on sports for women. They're not allowed to participate, practice, play, and take part in any of the sporting events across the world.
No such restrictions for the Afghan men, of course. So not being able to compete professionally ought to hurt. And so it is rather something for Freeba Rezaei to come out in strong defiance of the regime and the country to say this. And given the facts and tons of evidence about the Taliban, about their human rights and brutal treatment of women and children and youth, They are very, very dangerous. You can't hide behind one person under one flag and a portrait and tell the world that everything's okay for Afghanistan. If the IOC allows them to enter the Olympics at the heart of Europe in Paris in the year of 2024, it's very dangerous for the people. Now she uses powerful words shockingly to describe her own country.
She says they are brutal, they are dangerous and calling them as a country to be a part of the Paris Olympics will mean endangering others. Her plea comes at a time when Afghanistan is already being scrutinized when it comes to sports. Let me paint you a picture, give you a bit of a recap. It was just some months back that the Afghan men's cricket team was being cheered and applauded here in India. Fans thronged all stadiums where the Afghanistan team was playing. and supported and encouraged their valiant display of cricket, punching above their weight to score victories that are now historical, chapters that will be looked back at with pride. But even that is now under threat. The harsh regime and rules that the Taliban have levied on their women cricketers, practically snuffing them out, they disbanded the women's team upon capturing Kabul, has had its impact on their male counterparts too.
Recently, Australian cricket team that was scheduled to play an ODI series in March just last month and a T20 series later in August, both in Afghanistan pulled out and walked out of that commitment. Cricket Australia is committed to supporting growing the game for women and men around the world, including in Afghanistan and will continue to engage with the Afghanistan Cricket Board in anticipation of improved conditions for women and girls in the country. It was a strong statement to make and an equally firm stand to take. Fribarayzi wishes the same happens for other athletes, the many thousands of other athletes who have been forced to give up on their dreams after working and toiling hard to perform so far. When I returned from the Athens Games, I stayed in Afghanistan and I wanted to stay in Afghanistan and I continued my training because I saw the changes, the important changes.
To me, it feels like whatever I did, to support women's rights, gender equality, women's rights to sport back in 2004. It is all undone by the IOC and by the Taliban and people who tolerate the Taliban. Freeba Razai clearly has witnessed and seen two different Afghanistans. It's a concern even the IOC or the International Olympic Committee harbors. About a month ago, IOC's director James McLeod came out addressing this issue. saying they are in talks with Afghanistan to find a way forward, but also said a big change is nearly impossible to achieve. The IOC has been in continuous dialogue with the Afghan NOC and the Afghan sports authorities with the aim to reverse the current restrictions on access to sport for women and young girls in Afghanistan.
The IOC doesn't believe that isolation of the Afghan sporting community at this time is the right approach. IOC saying isolating Afghanistan cannot be the only way forward. It does seem like the authorities are not too keen to rupture a whole framework in an attempt to try and punish. But the repercussions could be significant in this course correction. The same IOC that banned Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating following the war don't feel the need to take severe action against Afghanistan for isolating half of their own athletes just yet. Sport has always been viewed as the one field that has united people. It brings everyone together, a unifying factor. Cricket did that for the country for a while. The country faced turbulence in its political landscape and it was the rise of their Afghanistan men's team that really gave people hope and brought smiles.
The Australian Cricket Association has hit a pause button on that. One of the big three in cricket has pulled the plug. So if a powerful sporting authority can take that step, The question always that you're bound to ask is why can't the IOC? What is holding them back? The whole motto and underlying foundation of the Olympics was to unite warring countries. That is how the Games came to be, to establish a global state where all would compete as equals. By not admonishing or penalizing Afghanistan's participation, is the IOC defeating its very own purpose of the Olympics? If Cricket Australia can take a stand, why can't the IOC? This is what we left.
will afghanistan ever be free?
why afghanistan is important?
when afghanistan war strated?
