Afghan women train in Australia after fleeing Taliban rule

Kabul as the Taliban swept to power in Afghanistan, Farida trains at a suburban Melbourne pitch, dreaming of one day playing soccer for her country while lamenting the fate of fellow women players back home. The 20-year-old striker was one of 77 Afghan athletes, family members and officials evacuated from Afghanistan last year by the Australian government after lobbying by prominent figures in the sporting world. Some of the evacuees have left Australia and found asylum in other countries, but more than 30 women footballers remain in Melbourne, rebuilding their lives with the support of one of the country's top professional clubs.

"We're in a secure place and everyone is really nice," Kabul native Farida told Reuters at training with her Afghan teammates on Wednesday. "But in Afghanistan, after the Taliban took control, everything has been turned upside down." Girls and women's sport has been crushed by the Taliban government's hardline policies. Men have continued to play sport at community and elite level in the country but women are effectively confined to their homes by a mixture of regulation and intimidation.

The Taliban last week banned women from appearing in public with faces uncovered, having already ordered limits on their movement without a male chaperone. The Afghan footballers in Melbourne enjoy Australia's freedoms and don't hesitate to speak out against the Taliban. But Melbourne Victory, who are sponsoring their soccer programme, ask them not to share their surnames for fear of potential reprisals to families back home.