RASC News Agency: Friba Razaei, the Afghanistani female judoka who competed in the 2004 Athens Olympics, has articulated her demand for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to prohibit Afghanistan’s involvement in the 2024 Paris Olympics. According to a Reuters report on Monday night, April 15, citing Razaei, the International Olympic Committee should refrain from portraying that all is well in Afghanistan under Taliban rule.
She remarked, “Should the International Olympic Committee permit their inclusion in the Olympics, set in the heart of Europe, in Paris 2024, this would be deemed highly perilous for the populace.” The Afghanistani sportswoman stressed that she never envisaged the destruction of all the accomplishments, rights, and liberties of women in Afghanistan.
In 1999, Afghanistan was barred from the 2000 Sydney Olympics by the IOC. Following the Taliban’s collapse in 2000, the opportunity arose for Razaei, an 18-year-old Afghanistani woman, to participate in the Athens Olympics. The Afghanistani sportswoman elaborated, “Upon my return from the Athens Games, I remained in Afghanistan, desiring to continue my training there, as I witnessed significant transformations in the country.”
According to her testimony, these aspirations have now been shattered by the Taliban. While the International Olympic Committee has yet to respond to the plea of this Afghanistani sportswoman, it had previously asserted that, in its view, the isolation of Afghanistan’s sports community is currently an erroneous strategy.
Razaei departed Afghanistan in 2011. Presently residing in Canada, she has actively contributed to establishing an organization named “Women Leaders of Tomorrow,” dedicated to offering scholarships and educational initiatives for Afghanistani women.
The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics are scheduled from July 11 to August 11 of the current year, with 10,500 athletes slated to participate in France.
