Afghanistan’s two athletes to miss Paralympic Games following Taliban takeover

Two Paralympic athletes from Afghanistan – including the soon-to-be first ever female Afghan Paralympian – have had to withdraw from the Games after the Taliban, an Islamic extremist group, retook control of the country.

Zakia Khudadadi and Hossain Rasouli, both taekwondo athletes, are prevented from traveling to Tokyo due to mass unrest in Afghanistan that makes air travel out of the country impossible. Following a withdrawal of United States troops from the area, Taliban forces captured the capital city of Kabul and ousted President Ashraf Ghani – returning the militants to power for the first time since 2001.

Afghanistan’s airports, including its main international one in Kabul, have been forced to close as a result of the upheaval, with thousands of people desperately trying to board U.S. military planes out of the country. Violence ensuing at Kabul’s airport has resulted in at least five fatalities, according to Reuters.

“Regrettably NPC Afghanistan will no longer participate in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games”, International Paralympic Committee spokesman Greg Spence lamented. “Due to the serious ongoing situation in the country, all airports are closed and there is no way for them to travel to Tokyo... We hope the team and officials remain safe and well during this difficult time.”

Afghanistan’s Chef de Mission for the Tokyo Paralympics, Arian Sadiqi, likewise expressed regret and trepidation over what occurred. “It was a dream for NPC Afghanistan to attend Tokyo 2020 but with [these] unfortunate circumstances it’s close to impossible. Keep us in your prayers”, he posted on Twitter earlier today.

Khudadadi would have been the first ever woman from Afghanistan to compete at a Paralympic Games. As recently as August 10th, she and Rasouli had done an interview with the IPC about their preparations for the event. “This is the first time that a female athlete will be representing Afghanistan at the Games and I’m so happy... I just want to be there with the other athletes from the world and give my best”, Khudadadi said at the time.

However, with the Taliban in power, the prospects of an Afghan female Paralympian or Olympian in the future look bleak. As a fundamentalist Islamic group, Taliban officials view women’s sports as contrary to the principles of Sharia law and are likely to crack down on the presence of female athletes.

The last time the Taliban headed Afghanistan’s government, the organization instituted a nationwide ban on women taking part in sport; which led to the International Olympic Committee suspending Afghanistan’s NOC and banning the country from the 2000 Summer Olympics. Women did not start representing Afghanistan at the Olympics until 2004, after the Taliban had been removed.