(MENAFN- Pajhwok Afghan News) FIROZKOH (Pajhwok): Female footballers in westernGhor province say the provincialSports Department does not support them and has even given their gymnasium to the Basketball Federation.
According to Football Federation of Ghor, currently 80 girls are playing and learning the game.
Pajhwok Afghan News interviewed a number of these girls and most of them complained about lack of exercising place, support of the sports department and bad view of people towards female footballers.
Nasima, one of the female footballers in Ghor, told Pajhwok that lack of a proper place for practice was one of their main problems.
'We had a gymnasium where girls would practice, but the sports department has recently handed it over to another sports federation,' she said.
She said cultural problems challengedwomen footballers as a large number of Ghor people were against girls' sports.
She asked Ghor sports department to pay attention to women athletes and support them in their improvement.
Parwana Ahmadi, another female footballer, also complained about lack of a proper place for exercise and no support of Ghor sports department with them.
'I hace always have secured first or second position in sports in Bamyan, Herat,Kabul and other provinces, but no one supported or encouraged us,' she said.
Jan Mohammad Haidari, head of Ghor Football Federation, acknowledged the problems and said, 'This gymnasium was built by ProvincialReconstruction Team ( PRT ) for women, but women's exercises have been cancelled over the last two weeks.'
He said the Sports Department handed over the gymnasium to Basketball Federation, depriving women of their practice. He said the girls will not return to learn football if the gymnasium was not given back to them.
Ahmad Khan Azizi, head of Basketball Federation in Ghor, confirmed the provincial Sports Department had handed the gymnasium over to them.
He said football exercises were performed in the gymnasium during winter while basketball team used it during spring season only.
'We should care about all sports, we have installed two pillars of basketball in the gym in coordination with the sports department,' he said.
Amir Mohammadi Ghori, sports department head, said they did so in order to promote othersport teams also.
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