Kim Kardashian aids Afghan female footballers

“Maybe an hour later, after the Zoom call, I got a text message that Kim wants to fund the entire flight,” he said, as quoted by the AP.

Premier League team Leeds United also contributed to the efforts.

Large numbers of Afghans fled the country in August following the Taliban offensive on Kabul, with female athletes leaving amid concerns that women participating in sports was seen as a challenge to the new Taliban leadership’s authority.

Members of the developmental team who arrived in the UK on Thursday had previously traveled to Pakistan, where they were processed with UK visas but were forced to wait several weeks while details of the flights could be arranged.

Khalida Popal, a player who had previously captained Afghanistan’s female football team, was an integral part of providing assistance for female athletes fleeing Afghanistan, telling the AP: “Many of those families left their houses when the Taliban took over. Their houses were burnt down.

“Some of their family members were killed or taken by Taliban. So the danger and the stress was very high, and that’s why it was very important to move fast to get them outside Afghanistan.”

Popal added that she was “so happy and relieved” that the female players and their families had been removed from danger.