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Afghanistan soccer player among people who died after falling from U.S. military aircraft
Afghanistan’s General Directorate of Physical Education and Sports confirmed Thursday that Zaki Anwari, a member of the country’s youth national soccer team, was among the people who died after falling from a U.S. military aircraft as it attempted to take off from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Monday, one day after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan’s capital city.
Anwari was “among hundreds of young people who wanted to leave the country, fell down and died in an accident from a US military plane,” a translated statement reads. “The sports community of Afghanistan considers this tragic incident as a paradise for Zaki Anwari and prays to God for his family, friends and fellow athletes.”
European forces cross Taliban lines for Kabul rescue, pressuring Biden to expand evacuationVideo circulated Monday that appeared to show two people falling from a departing U.S. Air Force C-17 on Monday. Hundreds of people ran alongside the plane as it attempted to take off, with some clinging to the side of the aircraft. Human remains were also found in the wheel well of a U.S. Air Force C-17 that departed from the Kabul airport on Monday, three people familiar with the issue told The Washington Post’s Andrew Jeong and Dan Lamothe.
Rahil Abid, a teammate of Anwari’s on the Afghan national under-16 team, told CBS News that Anwari rushed to the airport with friends when he heard Taliban militants were approaching Kabul.
“We had a training session a day before the Taliban captured Kabul. He was a talented center back,” Abid said. “He was also a brilliant student, and his dream was to be a world-class footballer, and he dreamed of making Afghanistan a big name on the world stage.”
Face of Afghan women’s soccer urges players to burn their jerseys, disappear amid Taliban ruleFIFPro, the international soccer players’ union, said Friday that Anwari was “the first known fatality from the football community amidst this ongoing crisis” and that “there are still many other athletes and footballers who we believe to be at risk in Afghanistan.” FIFPro has been working with international governments to get Afghanistan’s athletes at risk out of the country and will work “to bring as many people to safety as possible.”
A spokesperson for FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, called the situation in Afghanistan “very worrying.”
“FIFA has been shocked and saddened by the tragic death of Zaki Anwari, a former under-17 Afghanistan national youth team player,” the spokesperson said. “Our deepest condolences are with Zaki’s family and loved ones. We remain in contact with the Afghanistan Football Federation, and other stakeholders, and continue to receive updates from players in the country. We are supporting them through this difficult time. FIFA remains committed to growing the game globally, including the development of women’s football in Afghanistan.”
Afghanistan’s national men’s soccer team did not compete internationally from 1984 to 2002 because of the Soviet occupation, Afghanistan’s civil war and the rule of the Taliban, which banned many recreational activities. After the Taliban regime was toppled in 2001, the country’s soccer team began competing again and made its first attempt at qualifying for the World Cup in 2006. In 2013, Afghanistan won the South Asian Football Federation Championship.
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