Athletes from Afghanistan are calling on football stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to support the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan to play sport.
A group of Afghan female athletes who have organised themselves as Nima Girls Group wrote an open letter to the famous footballers urging them to use their platform to advocate for Afghan women and girls.
The group directly appealed to the football icons to amplify their voices to stand in solidarity with women and girls to have the right to a peaceful life, education, employment, travel, personal and social freedom.
“These days, we’re not in a good way. Stress, fear, and dread have engulfed our beings. We lack peace of mind, and our thoughts are restless. It feels as though we’re caught between life and death,” the letter stated.
“Yet, this isn’t solely our plight. It’s shared by millions of women and girls in our land—women and girls deprived of their fundamental rights.”
The letter stated that all the aspirations of women and girls have been taken from them in Afghanistan, and violence has reached into their homes, stifling their voices.
It said that Afghans need support and collaboration to “change their destiny”, outlining that since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, severe restrictions have been imposed on women and girls.
Currently, the restrictions on women and girls include being denied access to education, barred from employment in the government and many private sectors, and prohibited from traveling without a male companion.
The Nima Girls Group said they’re optimistic that their letter would reach Ronaldo and Messi and remain confident the footballers wouldn’t be indifferent like some politicians.
