Afghan refugee women to compete as official national team as Fifa bypasses Taliban

SportFootballAfghan refugee women to compete as official national team as Fifa bypasses TalibanFifa has passed a regulation change allowing the team of female Afghan refugees to represent the country officiallyFlo Clifford Wednesday 29 April 2026 10:59 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2967091","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/fifa-afghanistan-womens-football-refugee-team-taliban-b2967091.html","title":"Afghan refugee women to compete as official national team as Fifa bypasses Taliban"}}The Afghan Women United team will now officially represent Afghanistan in international competitions (Getty)Inside Sport newsletter: Get an expert guide to the biggest moments shaping the world of sportGet our free Inside Sport newsletterGet our free Inside Sport newsletterEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"IND_Inside_Sport_CDP","regTitle":"Inside Sport","subscriptionGroup":"inside_sport","subscriptionGroupId":"9cec95c5-a973-40ac-9b05-03d636c07853","type":"sport","pathPrefix":["/sport","/f1"],"associatedAuthors":["Lawrence Ostlere","Kieran Jackson"],"title":"Inside Sport newsletter: Get an expert guide to the biggest moments shaping the world of sport","mobileTitle":"Get our free Inside Sport newsletter","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/InsideSport1_1.png","newsletterKey":"receiveInsideSportNews","regSourceSection":"Football","regSourceMethod":"NSCs"},"isClimate":false}Fifa has granted permission to Afghan Women United, a team of female refugees, to officially compete as the national Afghan women’s football team.The...