Seven feminine Afghan taekwondo athletes resettle in Australia

A sports activities affiliation official says seven feminine taekwondo athletes who fled Taliban-controlled Afghanistan have resettled in Melbourne.

Australian Taekwondo’s chief government Heather Garriock mentioned Wednesday the ladies are finishing quarantine this week. Although many of the athletes weren’t recognized, there have been no feminine Afghan taekwondo athletes scheduled to compete on the Tokyo Olympics.

Garriock mentioned former Australia nationwide soccer captain and humanitarian advocate Craig Foster labored with the Australian authorities, Australian Taekwondo and Oceania Taekwondo on a high-risk evacuation from Afghanistan after the Taliban re-took management of the nation. No different particulars of the evacuation have been offered.

Taliban officers have since been quoted as saying that ladies is not going to be allowed to compete in sport.

“We’re really pleased the ladies are safe and incredibly grateful for the assistance of the Australian government and Oceania Taekwondo in getting them out of Afghanistan,” Garriock mentioned.

“The lives of those girls have been in peril.

“As a sport, we needed to pull together and do something to help. The Australian taekwondo community is incredibly welcoming, and these ladies will be welcomed with open arms.”

Garriock — who performed girls’s soccer for Australia at two Olympics — contacted Foster to assist in relocating the athletes to Australia.

“Craig is a passionate advocate for multiculturalism and refugees, so it was solely pure that he was the primary individual I contacted to debate what wanted to occur,” Garriock mentioned.

One of the athletes, Fatima Ahmadi, was quoted as saying that she was grateful for the help of all events who supported their evacuation.

“I feel so good about arriving in Australia. We are safe here without any danger,” she mentioned.

“Australian Taekwondo helped us a lot and I am so thankful. We are now waiting to do some useful things for Australia and repay your help.”

Players from Afghanistan’s girls’s soccer group are amongst dozens of athletes reportedly given visas to stay in Australia.

The Taliban returned to energy in Afghanistan in mid-August. In latest days, the brand new Taliban authorities issued a number of decrees rolling again the rights of women and girls. Across Afghanistan, girls in lots of areas have been instructed to remain house from jobs, each in the private and non-private sectors.