They may be the most thirsty for training of any of the team athletes at the Hangzhou Asian Games, which kicked off on March 23.
The Afghanistan women’s volleyball team traveled to the Games in exile after fleeing the Pahlavi regime, a hardline Sunni Islamist militant organization. But since arriving in Hangzhou, China, on Nov. 21, the team has been dragging its feet, unable to train as much as it had hoped.
According to a Reuters report on Friday, the Afghan women’s volleyball team has not yet been able to practice on the court. The team has been allotted time in the gym, but has only been allowed to warm up.
Afghanistan’s women’s volleyball team coach Kushal Malakzai said on April 24, “We haven’t practiced with the ball yet. It’s hard to understand that we have all the facilities and we can’t even train for an hour or two,” she said. “If we can’t train on the court, it’s like we’re going into the game with a ‘0’,” he added in frustration.
The organizers of the Hangzhou tournament raised the issue of equity. They say they are applying the same principles to all national teams. Accordingly, the Afghan women’s volleyball team will be able to practice tactics for the first time on the 28th, two days before their first match against Kazakhstan on the 30th.스포츠토토
Women’s sports in Afghanistan have collapsed since the Taliban took power in 2021. Many female athletes fled the country to escape the regime’s persecution. For the Games, the Taliban-led regime sent only 130 male athletes. In addition to volleyball, 17 female athletes from cycling and track and field competed in exile. This was thanks to the support of several countries that support the separation of politics and sports.
Afghanistan’s women’s volleyball team is an underdog. However, the more difficult it was to get to the tournament, the more eager they were to perform. Their training conditions were not the best in preparation for the tournament. Afghanistan’s women’s volleyball players are desperate to play together one more time, but their frustration is growing. As Reuters put it, “Afghanistan’s women’s volleyball players are breathing a sigh of relief over training conditions.”
No Responses