Evacuated over 100 football family members from Afghanistan after complex negotiations: FIFA
Lausanne, Oct 15: Football's world governing body FIFA on Friday said it has evacuated almost 100 members of the "football family", including women players, from Afghanistan after "complex negotiations" and with support from Qatar.
The evacuation, especially of women footballers, was necessitated by Taliban's takeover of the strife-torn country in August this year.
"FIFA can confirm, following complex negotiations, it has, with the support of Qatar, evacuated almost 100 members of the football family from Afghanistan, including female players," stated the world body
"FIFA would like to express its sincere thanks to the government of Qatar for its support facilitating extensive discussions and for ensuring the safe passage of these individuals, deemed to have been at the highest risk," it added.
The evacuees were brought to Doha aboard a Qatar Airways charter flight from Kabul. Qatar is due to host the men's World Cup next year.
In September, members of Afghan women's youth football team had fled to Pakistan but several others were stranded during the turmoil triggered by the Taliban takeover.
The volatile situation was exacerbated by the suicide attacks outside the Hamid Karzai International airport in Kabul that killed several Afghans desperately trying to flee the country.
"The FIFA leadership has been closely coordinating with the government of Qatar since August on the evacuation of the group, and will continue to work closely on the safe evacuation of further members of the sporting family in the future," the statement from FIFA read, promising more such evacuations from the war-torn nation.
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CSK's Ayush Mhatre ruled out of remainder of IPL 2026 due to hamstring injury
New Delhi (PTI): Chennai Super Kings batter Ayush Mhatre has been ruled out of the remainder of the ongoing IPL season due to a hamstring injury, dealing a major blow to the five-time champions.
The franchise said Mhatre, who sustained the injury during CSK’s previous game against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 18, will require a rehabilitation period of six to 12 weeks.
"Ayush Mhatre has been ruled out of the remainder of IPL 2026 due to a left hamstring injury sustained while batting during the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 18.
"Ayush's injury will require a rehabilitation period of 6-12 weeks," CSK announced on its social media on Tuesday.
The 18-year-old, who came in as an impact substitute, was seen in visible discomfort and clutched his hamstring while attempting a run during CSK’s 10-run loss to SRH in Hyderabad.
He required on-field treatment and, although he continued briefly, was dismissed soon after.
"It looks pretty bad, unfortunately. And he's going to be a big, big loss because he's been in really nice touch for us," CSK's batting coach Mike Hussey had said at the post-match press conference.
Mhatre has been CSK's standout batter this season. He lea collecting 201 runs from six matches at a strike-rate of 177.87.
Chennai Super Kings have endured a poor start to the 2026 season, losing four of their six matches to languish in eighth place.
