Sports Brand hummel Sponser Afghanistan Women’s Football Team

Football is a growing sport in Afghanistan and for a group of young Afghan women it has come to represent the hope of a better future and a demonstration of the improvement in women's rights in the country. On October 29th, 2010 the Afghanistan women’s national team played a friendly match against female NATO soldiers on NATO soil in Kabul. These women are an inspiration to people around the world who face heartache and controversy on a daily basis.

Midfielder Sabera Azizi is 23 years old “The purpose of the friendly match with the NATO girls was to show the world that Afghan girls can play football, and that we want peace in Afghanistan”. Many of the players have had to make tough decisions when choosing to play football for their country as many have to battle with their families to be allowed to play.

Afghanistan’s captain Khalida Popal says “We want to show the world that we are strong. We want to encourage girls to play football and show the world that women are good at it. And that football isn’t just for boys! In the beginning my family and friends didn’t want me to play and they tried to stop me. One day my father told me I couldn’t play and I was so sad I wanted to kill myself. That changed my father’s decision and ever since that time I have been allowed to play. Some of my relatives still have a problem with me playing, but that is exactly why I’m fighting for my rights to play: So all Afghan girls can see that it is possible”.

In June 2010 the Danish company hummel signed a sponsorship agreement with the men's and women's national football teams in Afghanistan. The sponsorship has grown into broader cooperation, with hummel's team working closely with the AFF and NATO to create the framework for the friendly.

For hummel the friendly is a clear indication of the progress made in Afghanistan. Sport has been associated with the forbidden in Afghanistan for many years. hummel would like to promote sport as playing an important role as a source of enjoyment and unity for the Afghan people once more.

“The friendly is a reminder that everyone is entitled to live out their passion - in this case playing football. Sport, and football in particular, is a way of breaking down barriers, with people meeting across cultural, political and religious divides. That’s really the point of the match,” explains Christian Stadil, hummel’s owner.

Under the Taliban regime football was illegal in Afghanistan and could actually result in a death penalty. The National Olympic Committee of Afghanistan founded the Afghanistan women’s national football team in 2007. The women’s national team has 22 players aged between 14 and 23 years old. Many of them are not sure of their own age.

hummel has an ambition to raise Afghan football to a new level. The Afghan teams had been through many difficulties finding a sponsor, and therefore hummel’s offer was great news to the players. The sponsorship was announced in May and since then a unique partnership has been growing between hummel and the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF).

Christian Stadil adds “The hummel match is merely one out of many steps on a long journey for hummel and the Afghan nation teams. We have already planned several other activities that can help draw attention to the Afghan teams”.

To AFF, the main purpose is to show the world another side of Afghanistan and thereby display the development that has taken place in the country during the past 10 years. From here, the idea arose for a friendly match against NATO, intended also to point out the fact that NATO has played an important role in facilitating the change which makes it possible for women to play football in Afghanistan today.

The Afghanistan women’s football team won the match 1-0.

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