Afghan Bromand keeps alive her Olympic dream in exile
NEW DELHI : Sadia Bromand is happy to show off her short hair, sports a few tattoos and boxes with the hope of representing her country in the Olympics - not everyone's taste, but all perfectly normal for a modern women of her age.
What sets the 27-year-old apart is that all those features would cause her big trouble in Afghanistan, had she not fled her homeland 3-1/2 years ago ahead of the Taliban takeover.
Bromand wore many hats in Afghanistan, from published poet to radio talkshow host and featherweight boxer, but it was her work as a sports journalist that led to her exile in Germany.
A series of reports in 2019 on the sexual abuse of Afghan female footballers made her parents fear for her safety.
"After the scandal broke, I went to Italy to attend a sports conference and from there to Germany," Bromand told Reuters, speaking through her coach, Yawari Amaun at a New Delhi hotel.
"My father was worried and told me not to return to Afghanistan for my own safety."
Once the Taliban reclaimed power in 2021, returning home ceased to be an option for the lone Afghan boxer who is attending the women's world championships in the Indian capital.
The Taliban rulers have effectively blocked women's access to education and sports, keeping open only primary schools for girls.
Bromand was forced into exile to hold on to her dream of becoming the first Afghan female boxer to compete in the Olympics.
That dream was fuelled by visits as a teenager to the Olympic facility in Kabul where there was a picture of Rohullah Nikpai, who won the nation's only Olympic medals, both bronzes, in Taekwondo at the 2008 and 2012 Games.
"I used to get inspired by him and wanted to see a woman reaching farther than him, achieving a gold medal for Afghanistan