Soccer squad flees
NZPA-Reuter Islamabad
Seven members of Afghanistan’s national soccer team who fled their country said yesterday that they trekked through mountains for three days, dodging Soviet and Afghan troops and rebel guerrillas.
The team captain, Mohammed Saber Rohparwar, and his six teammates told journalists how they escaped to Pakistan in disguise and flew with forged papers to West Germany where they have applied for political asylum. Their journey, planned weeks in advance, involved a three-day march through the mountains. During this trek they hardly slept because they were afraid Soviet or Afghan soldiers might spot them or that rebel guerrillas might mistake them for enemies. The seven players and an eighth man travelled singly or in small groups. “The situation in Afghanistan is very’ bad. The people were very unhappy . about tlie Russians. They ! are . thinking about the i future,” the 25-year-old 1 Saber said in English. He said they had finally decided to leave Afghanistan after receiving an unwelcome invitation to play a series of friendly matches in the Soviet Union.
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Press, 28 March 1980, Page 6
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174Soccer squad flees Press, 28 March 1980, Page 6
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