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UK to support Afghan footballers and families
Dozens of Afghan girls with promising football careers who fled the Taliban, have had their visas approved to resettle in the UK
The dozen players from Afghanistan have been told they can come to the Britain to be resettled, along with their families.
The 35-member squad – aged between 13 and 19 – fled Kabul last month after the abrupt takeover from the Taliban.
The group have been staying for the past few weeks in a hotel in Pakistan, where their temporary visas were due to expire on Monday.
“We are working to finalise visas to the Afghan Women’s Development Team and look forward to welcoming them to the UK shortly,”
a UK government spokesman said.
The young squad members have all been through an extraordinary ordeal.
Most of the players are from Herat in western Afghanistan and had made their way to Kabul when the Western airlift started, residing within safe houses in the meantime.