Female Athletes Flee Afghanistan as Taliban Bar Women in Sports

An Afghan national female soccer team and their relatives have crossed into Pakistan en route to Europe and the U.S., an official at the country’s soccer federation said, as local media reported they were fleeing from threats after the Taliban barred their participation in sports.

“There was a commitment which was given to them by the outgoing Americans” before they left Afghanistan last month, said Farasat Ali Shah, a director at the Pakistan Football Federation. “They are in the transit for Europe or America.”