Football players expelled in Australia

Dozens of threatened footballers in Afghanistan have been expelled by the Australian government, the World Football Association said on Tuesday (August 24). Khaleda Bhopal, the former captain of the Afghanistan women’s soccer team who helped evacuate the players, said some of them had escaped and heard gunshots as they fled. She tweeted a photo of the crowd gathered on the plane, another showing her walking with her backpack on the tarmac. “75 soldiers and some of their families left Afghanistan,” he wrote. The International Federation of Football Associations (FIFPro) says the expelled Afghan players are in a “dangerous situation” and “many athletes” are still at risk. A report on the FIFPro website thanked the Australian government for its efforts to oust it. “These young women, as athletes and activists, are at risk and on behalf of their colleagues around the world, thank the international community for coming to their rescue,” FIFPro said in a statement. Although the union tweeted on Sunday that several countries and groups were working on the file, FIFPro did not say what the ultimate goal of women would be.