Burn Your Team Uniform: Ex-Afghan Women's Soccer Team Captain To Players

The co-founder of the Afghan women's football league said she had always used her voice to encourage young women "to stand strong, to be bold, to be visible" but now she had a different message.

The former captain of the Afghan women's soccer team has urged players to delete social media, erase public identities and burn their kits for safety's sake now that the country is again under Taliban rule. Copenhagen-based Khalida Popal told Reuters in a video interview on Wednesday that the militants had killed, raped and stoned women in the past and female footballers were scared of what the future might hold. The co-founder of the Afghan women's football league said she had always used her voice to encourage young women "to stand strong, to be bold, to be visible" but now she had a different message. "Today I'm calling them and telling them, take down their names, remove their identities, take down their photos for their safety. Even I'm telling them to burn down or get rid of your national team uniform," she said.