General
Why Afghanistan Shouldn’t Compete in the Paris Olympics
By Friba Rezayee Produced by Derek Arthur In 2004, Friba Rezayee, a judo athlete, became the first woman to represent Afghanistan in the Olympic Games. Today, under Taliban rule, Afghan women and girls face severe restrictions that effectively make …
By Friba Rezayee
Produced by Derek Arthur
In 2004, Friba Rezayee, a judo athlete, became the first woman to represent Afghanistan in the Olympic Games. Today, under Taliban rule, Afghan women and girls face severe restrictions that effectively make it impossible for them to train for the Olympics at home. In this audio essay, Rezayee argues that the International Olympic Committee should demonstrate that it values human rights and opposes discrimination by barring a team representing Afghanistan in the Paris Games.
(A full transcript of this audio essay will be available within 24 hours of publication in the audio player above.)
Credit…Illustration by The New York Times; photograph by Ezra Shaw/Getty
Thoughts? Email us at theopinions@nytimes.com.
This episode of “The Opinions” was produced by Derek Arthur. It was edited by Alison Bruzek and Kaari Pitkin, with help from Sophia Alvarez Boyd. Mixing by Carole Sabouraud. Original music by Sonia Herrero, Pat McCusker, Isaac Jones, Efim Shapiro and Carole Sabouraud. Fact-checking by Mary Marge Locker and Kate Sinclair. Audience strategy by Shannon Busta and Kristina Samulewski. The executive producer of Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser.
The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.
Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp, X and Threads.
