RASC News Agency: Zemary Salangi, once known as the “Golden-Haired Lion” of Afghanistan football, now pushes a cart through the dusty alleyways of Mandawi Bazaar in Kabul. A former national team star and one of the most admired figures in Afghanistan’s sporting history, Salangi has been forced by relentless economic hardship and social instability to abandon the football field for a street vendor’s life a descent that mirrors the broader despair engulfing Afghanistan’s professional class under Taliban rule. In a recent interview, Salangi reminisced about his golden years in Afghan football his proud moments wearing the national jersey, his competitive tenure in top domestic clubs, and his commitment to elevating the country’s reputation on the international stage. “There was a time when my name was synonymous with hope and pride for young Afghanistani boys,” he said. “Today, I fight every day to afford bread for my family. It feels as if my achievements have been erased from memory.”
Salangi’s career began in his youth, and his raw talent soon earned him recognition beyond Afghanistan’s borders. He trained in Germany with coaching staff affiliated with Stuttgart, and later traveled to Malaysia and Tajikistan to expand his footballing experience. Despite these international engagements, bureaucratic and political hurdles, especially surrounding illegal migration and the lack of institutional support from Afghanistani authorities, ultimately forced him to return home his aspirations dashed by a collapsing state. Now, his days are consumed by the burden of physical labor in Kabul’s crowded markets. More painful still is his inability to provide adequate medical care for his ailing father. “I may have once represented a nation,” he said, “but now I can’t even afford a doctor’s visit. It’s not just poverty it’s humiliation.”
Under the Taliban regime, the sports infrastructure that once offered youth a sense of purpose and unity has deteriorated. Athletic programs have been defunded or shut down entirely. Cultural and sporting figures, particularly those not aligned with the regime’s strict ideology, are sidelined, silenced, or forced into exile. For athletes like Salangi, who flourished during the era of the republic, the return of Taliban rule has brought not only financial ruin but the erasure of their very identities. Yet, Salangi refuses to surrender his dignity. “I gave everything to my country,” he said. “I played not for money, but for the flag. Even if the world forgets me, I will never forget what it meant to serve.”
His story is emblematic of a broader tragedy unfolding in Afghanistan a nation where professional athletes, artists, and intellectuals are being systematically stripped of opportunity, recognition, and basic dignity. Once celebrated as symbols of national progress, these individuals now navigate a life of anonymity, poverty, and despair. Zemary Salangi’s fall from national hero to market laborer is not merely the story of one man it is the story of a country betrayed by those in power. It is a warning that a nation which does not honor its champions risks becoming a land of ghosts and forgotten glories.
