E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
NBC News
Sadaf Rahimi, in pink, throws a punch with her older sister, Shabnam, in the background on Dec. 17, 2011. They are working out in the Ghazi Stadium in Kabul, Afghanistan.
KABUL – It was known as the stadium of death. Ghazi Stadium was where the Taliban held public executions, stonings and mutilations during their brutal rule of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. This once blood-soaked pitch is now a field of dreams.
The stadium was recently reopened after a U.S.- funded refurbishment and thousands of Afghan athletes gathered to celebrate the event.
It is impossible to forget the dark history of this arena, but Mohammed Sabher Sharifi is determined to move on.
"There were many people killed, especially women. Now it is for the young generation of sportsmen, especially the females,” Sharifi said Sunday as he pointed toward an Olympic flag which stands next to the Afghan flag and will remain there until the 2012 games.
As a member of the Afghan National Olympic committee and coach of the women's boxing team, Sharifi faces a daunting task. He wants to create a winning team of female boxers.
Every afternoon, in the basement of Ghazi Stadium, in a small, dusty room with battered punch bags and cracked mirrors he oversees 20 teenage girls, as they jump, jog, jab and thrust.
Shah Marai / AFP - Getty Images
Afghan boxing coach Sabher Sharifi trains girls as they take part in a boxing training session at the Ghazi Stadium in Kabul in January 2011.
Photoblog: Young Afghan women at boxing training session in Kabul
"Yes, you see, the girls, they can do anything – and look at their strong punches!” he exclaimed.
The young Afghan boxers arrive at practice fully covered, looking like demure young ladies, but within 10 minutes of starting their rigorous workout, their headscarves are cast off, and they look like sportswomen from all over the world, glowing with health and beaming with hope.
The stars of the team are the Rahimi sisters – 18-year-old Shabnam and 17-year-old Sadaf. At the recent World Boxing Championship in Tajikistan, Shabnam won a gold medal and Sadaf a silver medal, making Afghan sports history.
Boxing is an unusual choice for any young woman, anywhere in the world, but in deeply conservative Afghanistan, it is an act of courage.
“Yes, we have a lot of problems. Here in Afghanistan they think we should stay home, not go to school, and never boxing,” said Sadaf. She said they have received threatening phone calls, but that has not stopped them.
Shabnam, her older sister, said she boxes not just for herself, but for her country. “My dream is that I should represent my country all over the world, especially in the Olympics, raising the flag for my country.”
Shah Marai / AFP - Getty Images
Afghan girls practice during a boxing training session in Ghazi Stadium in Kabul in January 2011.
She brushed aside local criticism of female boxing. "I just want to box, shoulder to shoulder with the men, and show I can do it."
Her sister, Sadaf, added, "When we were little, we had a male cousin who was a boxer, and we wanted to be like him."
They both realize that they are among the first generation of women to be granted this opportunity to fight; women boxing in public or competing in sports was a punishable offense under the Taliban. Women's boxing is a new Olympic sport, too. The International Olympic Committee only voted to include women's boxing in the 2012 Summer Games in London in August 2009.
Coach Sharifi said he has faith in his team, but that they need help, especially financially.
"We get $1 a day for each athlete. What shall we do? We have poor equipment, we cannot train like others," he said. The team cannot afford to buy decent punching bags, let alone build a proper boxing ring.
Shah Marai / AFP - Getty Images
Young Afghan wrestlers compete in a bout at the Ghazi Stadium in Kabul on May 12, 2011. The Ghazi stadium has returned to its former status as Kabul's premier sporting venue after being used for public executions by the Taliban during the late 1990s.
But Shabnam remains optimistic. Raising her fists in the air, and with halting English she said, "I see you London 2012!"
The sisters may not win medals at the Olympic Games. Indeed they may not even qualify for the games. They need to win their places in May at the World Boxing Championships in Qinhuangdao, China.
But they have already won a victory: They have shown what Afghan young women who pack a punch can achieve. The Olympic dream is theirs.
Related link: Afghanistan’s National Olympic Committee web site
Leave a Comment:
I'm with Melissa on this one! Boxing? A stupid "sport" to begin with, even for men. Instead, mentor and guide these women into real careers, not something to entertain the ignorant. Boxing as a career will end you up in a box or a rubber room!
It's not like pro sports. If you say this is stupid, what about cheer leading, band, football,choir,baseball,basketball,soccer,soccer,tennis. Nothing like a engineer. What it is, it's giving them self esteem for their studies.
Ever take a solid punch to the face Deb? Even with the big fluffy gloves, it rattles your brain. You can end up like Ali! While a high school boy in the fifties, I boxed.
I reiterate; It is a stupid sport and can result in permanent damage unless you are very quick. Most are not!
Agree 100%, again most women here are clueless and never took a slap let alone a punch. Just another liberal story about Afghan women getting more gear and how great they are. Don't see any coverage on smart Afghan women going to college, doctors in country side or even teachers.
Attack the USA and we will shed our blood and rebuild your country.
Attack the USA and we will even borrow money to rebuild your country.
You rock 'em, girls! Hope this beautiful fierceness spreads all over Afghanistan.
I doubt the conservative (and even liberal) males will allow this fierceness to spread all over their country. And they usually have the final say in that matter.
You go girls!!!!We're pulling for you in your new world.
This is only the first step. The ultimate goal is women' s mud and jello wrestling.
KEVIN-749492 Hey Bro, I think what she has in mind is sending your dumb ass out there so these girls can give you the ass whoopin' of your life. I can imagine what a sight it would be to watch them school a bitch like you on the art of fighting like a man instead of some little twat. Get a life!!!
Any sport can empower a person, and give them the self confidence to do other, greater, things in life. The women and girls boxing in Afghanistan are helping to recreate their nation, perhaps even as a relatively modern society.
Um, incidentally, the head scarf itself, without the burqa, is a sign of piety before Allah. The burqa, on the other hand, is an artificial constraint placed on women in ultra-fanatical Islamic societies, that has no real foundation in the Quran; modesty is a matter of attitude, rather than dress.
msnbc, great story. Can we get some reporters spread out throughout Afghanistan to investigate the social status of the rest of the country?
Thanks, KEVIN
What's happening right now in Afghanistan doesn't matter. As soon as the Taliban take power again (which is what the Afghans want) all of this will go away.
UD, you are right in that most of Afghanistan is profoundly conservitive in their religion and have had horrible experiences from Russia and the west (aslo their nieghbors). The culture is fractured and the people live in very low-poverty strictioned standard of living thus promoting religious contention to the point of violence. It has been more than clearly demonstrated for nearly 100yrs. that military action cannot resolve this situation with Afghanistan nor can they resolve this on their own as they wish to isolate if left to do so.
ONLY economic support of each and every individual within Afghanastan without stipulation can be tried at this time.
It has to start out slow.....first teach them to cook and fetch yer bathwater after a hard day of rapin' and lootin', arrrrrgggg....
This is amazing! I so hope that these young women can go to the olympics.
My greater hope is that A-stan will NEVER gop back to the Taliban rules. If my countrymen and women had to lose their lives there, at least let the country be open to education and development.
Hope they punch out the Taliban. Give them some pistols too so when the rapists come around they can shoot off their little useless wieners.
late, thats a 10-4 niner
Thanks N Esp! The women in Muslim countries are so brave. I don't think I could survive being humiliated by men every day. I would have machine gun their asses a long time ago.
You know as soon as we leave the Muslim fanatics will swam in. How many execution of women do do want to guess? And don't give me that bull about the Muslims wouldn't do that, because it has already been done..............
The whole art thou news media is covering it up, so the military will leave.....................................
One thing about Afghan women, they can all TAKE a good shot!
They need to kick their own ass, because they are all screwed in the head. That's just one person's opinion.
I sincerely hope "sportsmen including females" is a translation goof. Otherwise it sends a very poor message.
@ Heather: Nice idea and you're probably right. The question is, how exactly can a pacifist stop someone from beating them up until they stop being pacifistic? Dying for your right not to participate in violence is kind of a fiasco.
Mexicans are oppressed in what is our ancestreal homeland, Arizona.
You should learn how to take a hint.
Still more proof that Muslims resort to Violence first as a way to resolve their problems. Just give them Abombs with a short fuse. They will blow themselves up. Give our politicians a fact finding Junket to the stadium while your at it. Solve two problems at once.
You go girls!! Ya'll have a lot of ass to kick~ lol
Look at what these woman have to wear. Too bad liberal are afraid of Islam because they do nothing to protect Woman in Islamic countries from being treated as second class citizens.
If they win, they get a gold medal and acid thrown in their face, but, hey, they won.
Exactly, you want courage, its the female doctors and teachers in the country side not some wanna be boxer who can't even form a fist correctly. It's another liberal garbage news story. show coverage to women who have 8 kids and carry water and food for their familes from miles away. I also don't see the men's team making a big deal about their talent, what about their courage. So much for equality.....................
Shabnam, Sadaf, and all the girls in this class, (and the male teacher), have a lot of courage and it is beautiful to see them not only enjoying more freedom, but to stand up and do what they dreamed of, which as the article mentions, would never have been possible under the Taliban. They have all my admiration and good luck for the future.
Too bad Rohullah Nikpa Afghan taekwondo Olympic bronze winner doesn't get news coverage. But its ok while women whine about making history, men make "real" history. BTW she will get her ovaries punched in her throat by the Jamacian boxer, because rest of the world doesn't believe in special treatment, only America does.