This year at the Boo Cup tournament, Girls Unite will wear a message of solidarity with Afghanistan’s women’s football team, and the many other women of Afghanistan fighting for human rights. Our teams will wear the Afghan women’s football crest, with the message “Women’s rights are human rights” on the back.
Prior to the tournament, Girls Unite scheduled a zoom meeting with members of the Afghan women’s team. Over 60 Girls Unite players and their families joined the pre-tournament call.
The players had a chance to hear their inspirational stories and ask about the players’ experiences playing sports in Afghanistan, their decision to join the national team, the expectations and rules they had to work within, and the lessons they have learned in their amazing lifetimes.
“There are thousands of people at risk of reprisals in Afghanistan. Women and girls in particular experienced brutal oppression and discrimination under the Taliban during their last period in power, and many women athletes, journalists, activists and so many others have now fled the country in fear for their lives.”
“The international community has to do everything in its power to ensure people in Afghanistan and those who are trying to leave are protected. Acts of solidarity… are so important to keep the pressure on and to make sure the people of Afghanistan, and Afghan women in particular, know they will not be forgotten.”
–Colm O’Gorman, Executive Director for Amnesty International.
