Tournament featuring Afghanistan women’s refugee team moved to Morocco

By Canadian Press on October 22, 2025.

A tournament that included a team of refugee women’s soccer players from Afghanistan has been moved to Morocco and shifted to later this week, FIFA confirmed Wednesday.

The tournament, dubbed FIFA Unites: Women’s Series 2025, was originally set for Dubai starting on Thursday, and was to include Chad, Libya and the host United Arab Emirates.

The revised tournament will start Sunday and will include the refugee team, Chad, Tunisia and Libya. FIFA, soccer’s global governing body and the organizer of the event, did not give a reason for the move.

In Australia, where many members of the refugee team were based, there were media reports that the players were unable to obtain visas to the UAE.

Afghanistan has not played an official women’s competitive game since 2018, and the return to power of the Taliban regime in 2021 shut down women’s sport. The Afghan soccer federation has obligations under FIFA statutes to avoid discrimination, though it has not been suspended from international soccer.

While the players have fought for official recognition, the FIFA-supported refugee team cannot yet officially represent Afghanistan in World Cup qualifying.

In a statement, FIFA reiterated “its continued commitment to the ongoing implementation of the wider FIFA Strategy for Action for Afghan Women’s Football that was approved by the FIFA Council in May 2025, which includes the organization of — and extensive support — being provided to female Afghan players during the selection process and preparation prior to the FIFA Unites Women’s Series 2025.”

FIFA said the refugee players who fled Afghanistan and have settled in other countries have chosen the team name Afghan Women United.

Tunisia is ranked 96th in the world, while Chad and Libya do not yet have a FIFA ranking.

All games at the round-robin tournament will be broadcast live on FIFA’s in-house streaming platform.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Anne M. Peterson, The Associated Press

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