King Charles Welcomes Exiled Afghan Women’s Cricket Team in Stand for Gender Equality

Latifi, who fled her homeland in 2021 at the age of 17 during the Kabul evacuations, hopes the team will inspire women prohibited from participating in sports.

The team’s persistence—and this royal audience—offers a vital platform to advocate for Afghan women and highlight the basic freedoms denied to them, she explained.

Cricket has become Latifi’s livelihood, as she now works as a coach, and a powerful lesson in resilience.

“In life, you get one chance. In cricket, if you’re a batter, you might just bat once,” she remarked.

Her ambition is for the Afghan women’s team to return to official international competition under their own flag, just as the men’s team currently does.

Teammate Shabnam Snahsan expressed deep disappointment over the squad’s inability to compete in this summer’s World Cup.

However, she voiced gratitude for the meeting with the King and the public demonstration of solidarity it represented.

“Back in Afghanistan, women are stripped of the right to play cricket, to go outside, to study—anything,” she stated.

“We are here to play cricket, but it represents more than sport; we are fighting for them, and this moment means everything to us.”

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