More than 75 members of the Afghanistan Women’s national football team setup have escaped Kabul and fled to Australia, according to The Athletic.Since the Taliban seized control of Kabul earlier this month, female athletes have become increasingly vulnerable and face imprisonment, flogging or execution if caught.Last week, Shabnam Mobarez, the captain of the Afghanistan women’s team, posted a message on Twitter urging FIFA to intervene and save her teammates.Similarly, former captain, Khalida Popal told members of the women’s football team to delete their social accounts and dispose of their playing kits to protect their identities.Global players union Fifpro have been in discussion with several governments to ensure the safe evacuation of players, with the route to Australia developing about four days ago. The organisation has worked with former team coaches Kelly Lindsey, Haley Carter and Popal to secure player visas and is continuing efforts to bring others to safety.Carter took to Twitter to share the news and thank all those that played a part in the evacuation.“Thanks to the work of many individuals and our friends in Australia, after 72 hours of all-day and all-night ops, over 75 Afghan WNT athletes, officials, and family are finally wheels up. A brief pause to appreciate all those who made this happen…”

While the full group are believed to be headed to Australia via a stopover in Qatar, other possible destinations are understood to have included Belgium as well as the US and Canada.

Popal described this news as an “important victory” and admitted, “the last few days have been extremely stressful.”

She added that while it is a relief to see a number of Afghanistan women safe, there is still far more to be done.

“The women footballers have been brave and strong in a moment of crisis and we hope they will have a better life outside Afghanistan. But there is still much more work to do. Women's football is a family and we must make sure everyone is safe.”

Fifpro also released a statement, which read: “We are grateful to the Australian government for evacuating a large number of women footballers and athletes from Afghanistan.

“These young women, both as athletes and activists, have been in a position of danger and on behalf of their peers around the world we thank the international community for coming to their aid.

“We would like to pay tribute to the tireless, round-the-clock work of many people including Khalida Popal, Kelly Lindsey, Nikki Dryden, Alison Battison, Haley Carter and Craig Foster in helping them to secure safe passage out of Afghanistan.

“There remains much work to do to support and settle these young women and we urge the international community to make sure that they receive all the help they need. There are also many athletes still at risk in Afghanistan and every effort should be made to offer them support.”