Female soccer players evacuated from Afghanistan to Qatar
Qatar says female soccer players have been evacuated from Afghanistan on a flight to Doha
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Female soccer players were evacuated from Afghanistan on Thursday on a flight to Doha the Qatari government said.
“Around 100 footballers & their families including female players are on board,” tweeted Lolwah Al Khater, Qatar's assistant foreign minister.
Qatar worked with FIFA to coordinate the evacuation of players, including some on the national team, who were taken to a compound with other evacuees to undergo coronavirus testing. It is unclear how long they will stay in Qatar.
The international players' union, FIFPRO, in August helped secure seats on a flight out of Kabul for players from the Afghanistan women’s national team.
Concerns were raised for the safety of female athletes after the Afghan government fell much faster than publicly anticipated by the United States in August, allowing the Taliban to take back control of Kabul after 20 years.
___
More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports