This archive report was first published on 19 November 2021.
On November 19, 2021, a charter flight funded by US celebrity Kim Kardashian brought 35 female footballers and their families, a total of 130 people, to Stansted Airport in the UK.
The team had been in Pakistan on temporary visas since escaping Afghanistan following the Taliban's takeover, but risked being sent back when their asylum period expired.
Thanks to Kardashian's support, along with her SKIMS brand, the footballers will now spend 10 days in coronavirus quarantine before starting their new lives in the UK.
Leeds United, a Premier League football club, has also offered to help the footballers, with owner Andrea Radrizzani saying, 'We are delighted the Afghan Women & Girls Development Football Team and their families have landed safely in the UK.'
The Islamist Taliban had banned women from sporting activities and attending matches during their previous rule from 1996 to 2001.
