Sadia Bromand is the only boxer representing Afghanistan at the IBA Women's World Championships in New Delhi ©IBA

Afghan boxer Sadia Bromand has underlined the sorry situation facing women in her Taliban-controlled country as she bids for glory at the International Boxing Association Women’s World Championships here and a chance to fulfil her dream by competing at next year’s Olympics in Paris.

Bromand has been living and training in Germany over the past three years but claims she takes great pride in representing Afghanistan in international competitions and is aiming to deliver success to the women that are restricted from playing sport.

The Taliban returned to power in August 2021 following the withdrawal of United States troops, leading to hundreds of thousands of Afghan citizens fleeing the country.

The hardline Islamist group severely restricts the rights of women and girls under its interpretation of Sharia law.

Among the restrictions include women being forced to cover their faces in public, travel with men and be excluded from secondary education and sporting activities.

Bromand is the only Afghan boxer competing at the Women’s World Championships in Indian capital New Dehli and is set to start her campaign tomorrow when she is due to take on Turkey's Elif Nur Turhan in the second round of the featherweight category.


"I am very ready for this competition," Bromand told insidethegames.

"I have been training hard for this competition and I coming here to win a gold medal for Afghanistan.

"At this time, Afghanistan women don’t have freedom so I come here fighting for them.

"I am living in Germany but I am all the time competing for my country.

"I am very happy to be able to fight for my country and for women so I am proud of myself.

"In my country, women can’t go to school and play sport so I am only here to fight for them.

"It’s very sad situation."

Bromand used to be a sprinter before switching to boxing and is setting her sights on competing for Afghanistan at Paris 2024.

"I have been in Germany for three years as I cannot go to Afghanistan because I am a journalist and a boxer," said Bromand.

"My big dream is to go to the Olympics in Paris.

"This Women’s World Championships is very important for my country and for me as I am fighting for all women in Afghanistan."

Women in Afghanistan are excluded from secondary education and sporting activities under Taliban rule ©Getty Images
Women in Afghanistan are excluded from secondary education and sporting activities under Taliban rule ©Getty Images

Her comments come just days after Roza Isakovna Otunbayeva, head of the United Nation’s Assistance Mission in Aghanistan, claimed that the nation remains the "most repressive country in the world [for] women’s rights".

Last December, Samira Asghari, Afghanistan’s International Olympic Committee (IOC) member, described her country as being "like a prison" for women and girls following the Taliban’s return to power.

The National Olympic Committee of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has previously been suspended by the IOC from 1999 to 2003 after the Taliban barred women from sport during its first Governmental rule.

Taliban officials had pledged to the IOC in November last year that Afghan athletes and teams would be allowed to compete internationally.

Concerns have escalated over the country's ongoing humanitarian crisis, and progress on women's participation in sport has been limited.

Human Rights Watch has accused the IOC of an inadequate response to "the deprivation of rights of women and girl athletes" despite its engagement with the Taliban.

It also fears a ban on women's sport in Afghanistan is "likely to be permanent", and suggested that the IOC had not applied its Strategic Framework on Human Rights approved last September in this instance.