Taliban’s takeover puts Afghan sports in uncertainty

Ahmed Adel

The future of Afghan sports is uncertain with Afghanistan’s security situation facing myriad challenges.

The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan adds to this state of uncertainty for the nation’s sportsmen and sports, in general.

Cricket team

The Afghan cricket team maintains training at Kabul International Stadium.

The silence that prevails throughout the stadium does not reflect the state of pandemonium that dominates the whole of Afghanistan.

Afghans flock out of their country in the thousands to escape the Taliban’s rule.

The cricket team faces difficulty concentrating on training while all this happens around it and around the stadium.

“I see fear in their eyes, in their voices, even in their messages,” Afghan athlete Naveen al-Haq said of his colleagues in an interview with BBC Radio.

“The Taliban said they wouldn’t bother any athlete, but nobody knows whether this is true,” he added.

Al-Haq plays in the in the Caribbean Premier League, thousands of kilometers away from his home country.

Afghan athletes playing outside their country fear for their colleagues back home.

The family of Rashid Khan, Afghanistan’s most famous cricket player, cannot leave the country, according to former England star Kevin Petersen, who spoke to him during a tournament in the UK.

Petersen told Sky Sports channel that he had an extended conversation with Khan about the family of the Afghan player at home.

He said Khan is worried about his family and that he cannot get it out of Afghanistan any time soon.

Among the few positive signs, the Afghan Football Association published a picture of its re-elected president, indicating that football matches continue, despite challenges.

The association said the expected confrontation with Pakistan, which will be held in Sri Lanka, will remain on schedule.