Before their escape, the youth team was reportedly told to destroy their uniforms and equipment and delete photos and videos of them playing on social media to avoid reprisals.
Nearly three dozen members of Afghanistan’s national women’s youth soccer team have escaped to Pakistan after a big assist from a charity. After the Taliban took back control of the country, the senior national women’s team flew out of Kabul, but the youth team was forced to go into hiding amid fears of a crackdown on women’s rights by the new regime because not every team member had a passport or proper documentation.
