{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2025/11/women/blackburn-merkley-urge-fifa-to-recognize-afghan-women-united-as-afghanistan-s-women-s-football-team", "Blackburn, Merkley Urge FIFA to Recognize Afghan Women United as Afghanistan\u2019s Women\u2019s Football Team", "2025-11-24", "2025", "2025-11", "Republican", "Senate", "TN", "Marsha Blackburn", "B001243", "www.blackburn.senate.gov", "blackburn", "https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/news/cc8c80c1-d564-4bbb-93a4-f1d772346ae0", "scraper", "NASHVILLE, Tenn. \u2013 U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) sent a letter to the F\u00e9d\u00e9ration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) President Gianni Infantino urging FIFA to formally recognize Afghan Women\u2019s United as Afghanistan\u2019s national women\u2019s football team and to stop the Taliban from erasing Afghan women from international competition. Their letter calls on FIFA to enforce its human rights commitments and ensure these athletes can continue representing the women of Afghanistan on the world stage.\n\nFIFA Must Recognize Afghan Women United as Afghanistan\u2019s National Women\u2019s Football Team\n\n\u201cWe write to urge the F\u00e9d\u00e9ration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) to take decisive action to formally recognize Afghan Women United as Afghanistan\u2019s national women\u2019s football team and to ensure that Afghan women athletes are not erased from international competition by the Taliban\u2019s repressive regime. These players have continued to train and compete in exile despite being banned from their own country. FIFA\u2019s support and recognition are essential to safeguard their right to play and to uphold the integrity of the sport.\u201d\n\nThe Afghan Women\u2019s Team, Now in Exile, Has Shown Extraordinary Courage\n\n\u201cSince the Taliban\u2019s takeover in 2021, women and girls in Afghanistan have been stripped of their most basic freedoms, including the right to receive an education, travel freely, and participate in sports. Yet, the Afghan women\u2019s team, now in exile, has shown extraordinary courage and perseverance by continuing to train, compete, and represent the spirit of their nation under unimaginably difficult circumstances. Their recent participation in a FIFA-supported tournament marked a powerful symbol of hope, but it also underscored a glaring truth: without formal recognition and consistent opportunities to compete, these women remain sidelined from the international stage. FIFA\u2019s creation of an Afghan women\u2019s refugee squad was an important step forward, but the players\u2019 ultimate goal is to represent Afghanistan as their national women\u2019s football team, and that goal remains unfulfilled.\u201d\n\nFIFA Must Honor Its Commitment to Upholding Human Rights Standards\n\n\u201cFIFA\u2019s own statutes commit the organization to upholding human rights and promoting non-discrimination in sport. Those commitments must extend to the Afghan women who have lost their federation, their home field, and their right to play. One day, these brave athletes will hopefully be able to safely return home to play free from the repression of the Taliban. Until then, FIFA should ensure that they can continue to represent the millions of Afghan women who have either been forced to flee or remain under the Taliban\u2019s brutal rule. FIFA has tools at its disposal. Yet despite its stated human rights standards, the body has too often failed to enforce them consistently. It should investigate Taliban-controlled the Afghan Football Federation for violations of those standards and consider restricting funding and access for federations that bar women from sport. Additionally, FIFA should take concrete action to recognize Afghan Women United as Afghanistan\u2019s official national women\u2019s football team, consistent with precedents in other contested or politically complex contexts.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2025/11/women/blackburn-merkley-urge-fifa-to-recognize-afghan-women-united-as-afghanistan-s-women-s-football-team"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4771160203963518, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}