“These players dreamed of playing football for Afghanistan and men just came and took that dream from them,” Popal said. FIFA has declared it a priority to ensure equal access to soccer without discrimination. But in Afghanistan’s case, it is just “monitoring the situation very closely,” according to its statement. A spokesman for the Afghanistan Football Federation said the organization could do nothing to help because the women’s national team dissolved when the players fled the country — an assertion the players reject. While working for Right to Dream, a soccer nonprofit, and Girl Power, her own nonprofit, she organized a petition, which has been signed by more than 175,000 people since publishing online in late July.

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Persons: ” Popal, you’ve, Julie Elliott, Malala Yousafzai Organizations: FIFA, Afghanistan Football Federation Locations: Afghanistan, British