The first representative of the Taliban* government arrived in Tajikistan. As part of the football team. This is the first official visit of a Taliban representative to Tajikistan
Author: Mazhab Juma, Asia-Plus
The Afghanistan under-16 football team, arrived in Tajikistan to play with Kyrgyzstan as part of the CAFA-2022 (U-16) tournament.
Hafiz Ahmad Zozai. Photo from the official website of the Afghanistan Football Federation
On May 10, a representative of the Taliban government arrived in Dushanbe as part of an Afghan football team. The Ambassador of Afghanistan to Tajikistan stated this to journalists at a press conference in Dushanbe.
Mohammad Zahir Aghbar, the Afghan ambassador to Tajikistan, told reporters at a press conference that on Tuesday they went to the Dushanbe airport to meet the players of the Afghan national team, and saw that a representative of the Taliban government arrived with the team.
According to the ambassador, Hafez Ahmad Zozai has nothing to do with sports, especially football, and the purpose of his visit is only to “observe” Afghan football players.
“His duties include “supervising” 31 athletes who arrived in Dushanbe. He makes sure players don't speak badly of the Taliban government, and take the opportunity to flee to other countries and return to Afghanistan. This representative of the Taliban government did not approach us and refrained from communicating with us and the media,” the diplomat said.
The footballers told the embassy that they had been warned before flying to Dushanbe not to talk to journalists or even embassy representatives.
“We will definitely watch the game in which our players play. We don't say anything against the Taliban in football. We don't want to pollute sports with politics, but as you can see, they have already polluted sports with politics. We enjoy the game, we support the players, we raise the flags of Afghanistan and Tajikistan,” the ambassador said.
The Football Federation of Tajikistan also confirmed that the Afghan under-16 team arrived in Tajikistan on May 10 on an Istanbul-Dushanbe flight and Hafiz Ahmad Zozai "is the head of their delegation."
The Afghanistan U-16 team will play on May 13 in Dushanbe with Kyrgyzstan as part of the CAFA-2022 (U-16) tournament.
This is the first official visit by a Taliban representative to Tajikistan since they came to power in Afghanistan in August. And this is despite the fact that Tajikistan is the only Central Asian state that has not yet had ties with the Taliban government.
The leadership of Tajikistan in domestic and international forums always emphasizes that it is committed to an inclusive government in Afghanistan and that Tajiks, who make up the majority of the country's population, should be included in the government.
Recall, that in Dushanbe from May 13 to May 20, the championship of the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) among boys under 16 will be held. Teams from Tajikistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan will take part in the CAFA-2022 U-16 championship.
* The organization is under UN sanctions or banned due to terrorist activities.
