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Many young people have memories of their first sports match. But the legacy of Kabul's Ghazi
stadium is one that has passed through infamy as well as pride.
“I don't think there are any Kabulis who don't have a memory of Ghazi Stadium. When
I was a child, I came here with my father to watch Buzkashi competitions.”
As head of the Olympic committee, General Aghbar is keen to promote Afghan athletes
on an international scale. And with recent successes in football, cricket and judo, the
star of Afghan sports is on the rise. “A well-organised sports programme can appeal
to the youth in the society and bring out the very highest qualities of citizenship.”
“The intent is promote a culture of sports for Afghan youth and give them viable alternatives
to some of the other negative influences out there, such as crime, drugs the insurgency,
et cetera.”
“We want the world to know that young athletes here are ambassadors for peace. Their country is burning, there is smoke issuing
from it. But despite murders and explosions caused by the criminals of the last century,
our young athletes can have a strong presence in international sports and bring medals to
their country through healthy competition.”
Ghazi Stadium was opened in 1923 and saw its first international soccer match between Afghanistan
and Iran in 1941. But it's the nineties that saw the stadium's darkest hours as the Taliban
used its grounds for public executions. Today, though, the stadium has a new face,
as with a million dollar investment from the US government, the pitch has been relaid with
international-standard artificial turf. “With a sometime chilling and bloody past,
it was going to be hard to vanquish the minotaur at the centre of Afghan thought when it came
to the stadium. But with the chance to re-lay the ground, a new hope appeared.”
Digging up the ground is also a symbolic act, removing the earth once soaked in blood
and replacing it with new soil.
“The Taliban and their supporters were
trying to show their power by passing death sentences and cutting off people's hands at
Ghazi Stadium.
“Now that construction is occurring here,
we want our youth and all of humanity to breathe this air freely. ”
After the opening ceremony, Afghanistan's sportsmen and women will have a chance to
experience the new turf for themselves.
“It's one more step in Afghanistan's march towards being a modern country in this part
of the world.”
This is Ruth Owen, in Kabul, for the NATO Channel