Afghanistan will send a team made up of three men and three women to the Paris Olympic Games, as demanded by the International Olympic Committee since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, the IOC Executive Board announced on Thursday.
“This is the result of the work that the IOC has been carrying out for several years, in close collaboration with the Afghan National Committee, to guarantee the participation of sportswomen in the Olympic Games,” underlined Mark Adams, the spokesperson for the Olympic organization.
Between dialogue and pressure with the Afghan authorities
The Afghan delegation will be made up of an athlete, a swimmer, a judoka, while the female representatives will be divided between athletics and judo. The IOC also confirmed that the Afghan Olympic Committee and its management – including the president and secretary general in exile – remain its sole contacts for the preparation and participation of the Afghan team. “No representative of the Taliban government will therefore be accredited for the Paris Olympic Games,” the spokesperson continued.
Since the return of the Taliban to power in Kabul, the IOC has dosed dialogue and pressure in its relations with the Afghan authorities, demanding that they guarantee “access to sport in complete safety for women and young girls”, by providing aid financial support to athletes and by allowing itself the possibility of cracking down at any time against the country’s NOC, for example by not accrediting any official in Paris.
