Governing Bodies
Afghanistan IOC member Samira Asghari calls for help to evacuate country’s female athletes
Afghanistan’s International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Samira Asghari has pleaded for help to evacuate the country’s female athletes, coaches and support teams from the country.
In a tweet posted today Asghari writes: “Please Afghanistan national female athletes, coaches and their entourage need your help, we must get them out of Taliban’s hands means out of Afghanistan in particular Kabul.
“Please do something before it is too late.”
Asghari tagged the accounts of the United States’ diplomat Ross Wilson, the US 3×3 basketball team and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee.
The Taliban has swept back to power in Afghanistan in a development that has raised serious fears over what it will mean for women’s rights and women’s sport, which the group views as un-Islamic.
Zakia Khudadadi had been due to become the first female athlete to represent Afghanistan at a Paralympic Games at Tokyo 2020, but it was announced earlier this week that the situation and lack of flights from the country meant that she would no longer be able to participate in the Para taekwondo competition.
As reported by Kyodo News, Khudadadi has also appealed for support to reach the Paralympics.
“I am an Afghan woman, and as a representative of Afghan women, I ask you to help me,” Khudadadi said.
“My intention is to participate in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
“Please hold my hand and help me.”
The 23-year-old said she is “imprisoned inside the house” with relatives in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, and “cannot even go outside this house with confidence and with security to go out to buy a few things for myself or to train.”
Afghanistan sent five athletes to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and one to the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
However, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) confirmed earlier this week that the country would no longer feature at Tokyo 2020.
A spokesperson for the IOC said when asked about Asghari’s tweet: “The IOC is monitoring the situation and is in contact with the sport community in Afghanistan.
“At the same time, we have forwarded relevant information to a number of responsible Governments.
“For obvious reasons of security of concerned people, we would not comment further at this stage.”
Asghari is the first IOC member from Afghanistan.
She was elected in October 2018, and is a peace and human rights advocate in her country.
The Taliban has declared victory in Afghanistan, as well as its intention to form a new Government and establish international relations after taking the capital Kabul.
The Islamist group believes in Sharia law and vigorously restricts the freedoms of women.
Female employees in some areas taken over by the group have been told not to return to their jobs, while in others women must wear a burqa if they leave home, and must be accompanied by a male guardian.
The group said this week that it will respect’s women’s rights “within the framework of Islam”, and would welcome women in Government positions.
However, doubts remain internationally.
The Taliban imposed severe restrictions on women during its rule of Afghanistan in the late 1990s, but was removed from power in an operation led by US forces in 2001.
An “agreement for bringing peace” was signed between the Taliban and the US in February 2020 during the Donald Trump administration, and President Joe Biden announced in April this year that all US troops would leave Afghanistan by September 11.
However, in recent weeks the Taliban has advanced across Afghanistan, and the country’s President Ashraf Ghani fled on Sunday (August 15).
Kabul’s airport has been closed to commercial flights, but thousands have been desperately attempting to escape the country, with videos showing huge numbers of people on the runway, while others have fallen to their deaths after attempting to cling to an aircraft as it took off.
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Governing Bodies
Nigeria becoming an epicentre of global badminton as Francis Orbih enters the Badminton World Federation Council
Laurels on the courts and now glory in the boardroom sums up the mark that badminton is making in Nigeria.
The President, Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), Francis Orbih, has been elected as a council member of the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The election took place during the BWF Annual General Meeting on Saturday in Xiamen, China.
Orbih emerged victorious over top contenders from other African countries.
He will join Cameroon’s Odette Assembe Engoulou on the council, while Chipo Zumburani (Zimbabwe) and Hadia ElSaid (Egypt) missed out.
An elated Orbih expressed his gratitude to fellow badminton presidents across the globe for their trust and support.
He said, “I am deeply honoured by the trust placed in me by my peers across the badminton world.
“I look forward to quality representation, driving development initiatives, and strengthening badminton’s global reach over the next four years.”
Orbih also acknowledged the support of the Federal Government of Nigeria, particularly the National Sports Commission (NSC), which he said played a significant role in his successful bid.
“The Chairman and the Director General of the NSC monitored the entire process. I’m grateful for their involvement and confident Nigeria will benefit from this,” he stated.
He further appreciated the BFN board members and the Nigerian badminton community for their prayers and continued belief in his leadership.
“From the day I declared my intentions, the board members of BFN have been supportive, and I promise not to disappoint them,” Orbih concluded.
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A former member of the FIFA Council, Mamoutou Toure, has been released from jail in Mali after almost two years in detention for alleged corruption, Malian media reports said on Wednesday.
Toure, president of the Malian Football Federation since 2019, was released after 622 days in prison on Tuesday.
He served on the FIFA Council, world football’s all-powerful decision-making body, for four years until last month when he lost his seat after failing to contest new elections.
The 67-year-old was arrested in August 2023 on allegations of embezzling $28 million of public funds but was granted a provisional release order by the Malian courts, reports said.
He was accused of misconduct during his time as the National Assembly’s financial and administrative director from 2013-2019.
Toure denied all charges and, during his time in jail, was last August re-elected as Malian Football Federation president for a second consecutive term, with his supporters claiming he was a victim of a conspiracy fuelled by detractors.
While in jail, he received a letter of support from FIFA president Gianni Infantino. However, as of last month, Toure is no longer a member of the FIFA Council or the Confederation of African Football’s executive committee.
-Reuters
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The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has denied reports of an outstanding debt to former captain Christian Chukwu and has challenged anyone with verifiable documents to prove otherwise.
Chukwu, a former national team captain and chief coach, died last Saturday.
The Nigeria Football Federation decried statements in a section of social media that the football-ruling body was indebted to the deceased.
Reacting to one statement on social media that claimed NFF owed the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations-winning team captain the sum of $128,000, NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, said: “There is no record in the NFF of any outstanding indebtedness to ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu.
“During the first term of the Board headed by Amaju Pinnick, a committee was set up to diligently peruse the papers of coaches who were being owed, even from previous NFF administrations.
“That committee was given the clear mandate to verify all debts and ensure that the coaches being owed were paid immediately. I am aware that the ‘Chairman’ was in the employ of the NFF between 2002 and 2005, before he was relieved of the post following the 1-1 draw with Angola in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Kano in August 2005. There is certainly no record of indebtedness to him in the NFF.”
Sanusi challenged anyone with genuine and verifiable documents of NFF indebtedness to any coach, who has worked with any of the National Teams over the past two decades, to come forward and tender those documents.
“As a credible organization that is very much alive to its responsibilities, if we are confronted with any genuine document of indebtedness to any coach, we will offset the debt immediately.”
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