Football, Floodlights and Threats From the Taliban: Life In The Afghan Premier League

This article originally appeared on VICE Sports UK.

With the biggest domestic competitions in Europe kicking off last weekend, football obsessives, scouts and spread bettors will be back to keeping an eye on overseas leagues. For most, that will mean the Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and perhaps the upper echelons of Ligue 1. Those with a taste for niche competitions might cast the net as wide as the Eredivisie, the Primeira Liga, the Allsvenskan or the Tippeligaen. Those looking for something even further afield, however, would do well to keep tabs on the Afghan Premier League.

Now heading towards its fifth full season, the Afghan Premier League was inaugurated in 2012. That was the years that NATO leaders announced an exit strategy for foreign forces in the country, and so decided to bring to a close a brutal chapter in the nation's history. While that was the beginning of the end for the official War in Afghanistan, there has been little respite for Afghans since then. Theirs is a national divided, ideologically, politically and physically, with the elected government ruling from Kabul and the Taliban maintaining strongholds in much of the south, east and west. Needless to say, that is a seriously volatile environment in which to organise a domestic football tournament.

With security the first concern for organisers, all matches and training sessions take place in Kabul. The AFF Stadium hosts the majority of games, standing as it does in the middle of town, not far from the tombs and ruins of the Maranjan Hill. With a capacity of 5,000, not many Afghans get to watch league football in a live setting. From a security perspective, that makes sense, though there is plenty of room to expand the sloping stands that huddle around the artificial pitch.

While Kabul hosts the league in its entirety, footballers from all over the country are welcome to try out and join the teams. There are currently seven different sides in total, which are created via a series of regional tournaments (known as the Maidan-e-Sabz) held across eight different provinces in Afghanistan. While matches are held exclusively in the capital, the teams have distinct, regional identities which appeal to people far beyond the sprawling urban metropolis of Kabul itself. That gives the Afghan Premier League the beginnings of a national character, even if the games themselves are limited to one venue. Supporters might not be able to make the journey to the capital but, with matches now being televised, the league can at least be broadcast in cafes, teahouses and homes across the country.

When I speak to Chris McDonald, co-founder of the Afghan Premier League, he tells me that one of his main hopes is to help to foster a national togetherness through the medium of football. While the league is a business venture first and foremost, it has a role to play in shaping Afghan society in a time when the battle-scarred country is still trying to find its feet. Tribalism has played a huge part in the success of the Taliban, and seriously hindered the government in their attempts to progress and modernise. Showing people that footballers from different tribes can play alongside each other has symbolic importance. "It means something when there are guys from different tribes playing on the same team. The league sends a message of unity to people, in a country which has never really had a very strong sense of self."

More than that, the league provides opportunities to the young men most at risk of succumbing to Taliban influence. While it's created a raft of jobs behind the scenes, it also offers a chance for a better life in a country with numerous barriers to social mobility. "By creating a league which draws on regional tournaments all over the country, completely based on merit, and completely transparent in their selection, it becomes possible for every young man in Afghanistan to become a professional footballer," Chris says. "No matter where he's from, no matter what the conditions are, that gives him a chance to fulfil his dream."

Having sought out a venture in the country through his contacts in the local broadcasting industry, Chris always wanted to do something that could have a positive influence on Afghanistan. "I talked with the US and UK governments, NATO and various other groups about what sort of things might help the situation," Chris tells me. "Football is the most powerful and popular sport in Afghanistan. The league is something which can hopefully inspire people, something which people can be passionate about, follow and enjoy." While games are played in the daytime at the moment, the league's organisers are in the process of installing floodlights so that matches can occupy a primetime slot. That could be quietly revolutionary in a country where people have got used to nighttime curfews, first on behest of the Taliban and then the security forces. Soon there will be regular evening entertainment, when before there was often interminable boredom.

Considering the fraught backdrop to the competition, it's little wonder that some of Chris' stories make the narratives of the English top flight seem tame. Three years ago, the Afghan Premier League saw its first women's match broadcast on live television, a brave and dangerous decision in a country with a widespread fundamentalist insurgency. "We had a situation two years ago where one women's team was threatened by the Taliban," Chris tells me. "They said: 'We don't want you to play, we don't want you to go on television, women should be staying at home and should not be seen.' These women were afraid for the safety of themselves and their families, but they showed incredible courage, and all came. They played the tournament and, thankfully, nothing happened." The women's league had been going for three years at this point, and is about to expand from four to six teams.

The sight of women playing football on Afghan television is, again, of huge symbolic importance. Just over a decade ago, women lived under practical house arrest in Afghanistan, denied even their most basic rights by the Taliban regime. That is why women are willing to brave intimidation and death threats to attend the tournament, and that is one of the reasons why the Afghan Premier League is so important. The men's teams have faced their own share of dangers on the roads to Kabul, where kidnappings at gunpoint are anything but unusual. Nonetheless, they keep coming, because they want to be a part of something that is capturing the collective imagination.

With some players becoming national icons, the league is using its growing influence to spread an anti-violence message. Players are given a chance to tell their own stories about life in Afghanistan, which Chris hopes will have a significant influence on others. While positive messaging in football is unlikely to solve the country's problems, it certainly can't hurt in a nation ravaged by war, poverty and a burgeoning opium trade. Chris tells me that 57% of people tuned in for last year's title decider. With that level of popularity, the Afghan Premier League could have a huge impact on national attitudes, and potentially be a huge force for good.

While the league has a long way to go in terms of infrastructure, the operation is growing all the time. Should production costs and the security situation allow, there are huge opportunities for the competition to develop and expand. It's possible that, in the future, games could be played in cities and provinces outside Kabul, making football a truly national affair. Dangerous as the beautiful game is in Afghanistan, it looks as if it will be impossible to suppress.

@W_F_Magee