Football survives the Taliban: The ball keeps rolling in Afghanistan

For all of the aspects of daily life that have been taken away from the citizens of Afghanistan since the country was taken over by the Taliban, this has not been the case with football.

Football is once again creating hope and creating light in Afghanistan amidst the direst of circumstances.

The ball creates hope

Last Friday, August 19, four days after the Taliban entered Kabul, the title decider of the Herat Premier League took place at the recently renovated Herat Stadium in front of a watching crowd of hundreds of supporters.

The match was contested between Attack Energy Club and Herat Money Changers, with Attack securing a 1-0 victory courtesy of a Farzad Ataie penalty.

As a result, they will be competing in the 2021 edition of Afghan Super League, although the date of the start of the competition has yet to be set.

The myth over football being prohibited by the Taliban

Although it has been claimed that local football was prohibited during the Taliban's rule over Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, a closer look at contemporary testimonies show that this was not the case.

Carlos Igualada, who wrote the book 'Terrorism and Sport', confirmed it not to be the case.

"Football was one of the sports utilised by the Taliban regime between 1996 and 2001 to attract citizens, and in a way it became a useful tool to get their message out to society," said Igualada.

However, the matches took place in line with Taliban rules, and players who infringed these laws were punished.

In 2000, a team from Pakistan came to Afghanistan on a summer tour, before being arrested and having their heads shaved for wearing shorts.

As the captain of the Afghanistan national team at the time, Mohammad Isaq spoke about how the Taliban leaders would fund their own teams.

"They [the Taliban] decided on a salary for each player and financed all the expenses derived from maintaining the club," said Isaq.

"In total 12 teams competed, all of which were in Kabul."

The stadium of executions

The matches of that particular championship took place at the Ghazi Stadium, which had a capacity of 26,000, and it where the Taliban would also host public executions.

The stadium was remodelled ahead of its reopening in 2011 and has since become the national sports centre, although the Afghanistan national team have only played three matches as the home side there.

"Some say the souls of the executed are still here. Too much blood has flowed on this pitch, so we had to put an extra layer of earth on top to hide everything," Mohammad Nasim, the groundsman, told Reuters in 2008.

The league that became a reality show

The Afghan Premier League was founded ahead of the 2012/13 season, which consisted of eight teams - one team for each region of the country.

Without a professional structure, each team could choose their 18 players in a national reality show called 'Green Field'.

Hundreds of young people signed up for the competition, which was narrowed down to 30 people from each region, before a jury made up of members of the Afghanistan national team would decide on the final 18.

The most decorated team was Shaheen Asmayee, as the side representing Kabul claimed the title five times in eight seasons.

In 2017, they became the first Afghan side to compete in the AFC Cup, the Asian equivalent of the Europa League.

The plan had been for a remodelling of the top flight in 2021, which would have seen the top four teams from two groups of four fight head into the semi-finals, before the overall winner would lift the Super League title, but the start of the tournament has yet to be set.

However, right now, the ball keeps rolling in Afghanistan, as football once again survives the Taliban.