Games-Displaced Afghan women athletes defy Taliban at Asian Games

HANGZHOU, China : On a pristine volleyball court on the seventh floor of a massive training centre in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, a team of Afghanistan women prepare for their first Asian Games in defiance of the Taliban government's antipathy toward female sport.

Though separated from families and scattered across Asia, the volleyballers have assembled at the multi-sport event with the support of Olympic officials and the sport's global federation.

Some fled Afghanistan when the Taliban came to power in the wake of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, fearing persecution from a government that has effectively banned women's sport.

With little prospect of returning home, they have rebuilt their lives in Pakistan, Iran and other countries, playing sport in effective exile.

Now in Hangzhou, they yearn to give hope to the hopeless - the women athletes left behind in their homeland.

"Nowadays, they are looking for hope," Mursal Khedri, a Pakistan-based, 24-year-old member of the volleyball team, told Reuters.

"By seeing us here they can find hope that we (women) can also participate in sports."

The Taliban administration say they respect women's rights in line with their interpretation of Islamic law and Afghan custom and that they have declared a "general amnesty" against their former foes under the previous foreign backed government.

BIG ACHIEVEMENT

Wearing lycra leggings and shirts with the traditional Afghanistan colours of red, black and green, the team all train in hijabs under the watch of veteran Iranian coach Nasrin Khazani.

They play their first group match against Kazakhstan when the women's volleyball tournament starts on Saturday.

They are unlikely to get near the knockout rounds and claiming a single win would be a big