Thirteen Australian-based players have been selected to represent the Afghan women’s refugee team, as they prepare to play international football for the first time in four years.

But while this milestone is widely celebrated, it's still tinged with a dark reality for women in the country, who are banned from playing sport, secondary and higher education, and prohibited from speaking or showing their faces in public.

"What we want to do is to be the voice for the women of Afghanistan right now in the Western world," co-founder of the women's national team Khalida Popal told ABC Sport.

" Nobody is talking about Afghanistan. Afghanistan has become an old story. "

Football the tool for activism

The FIFA-backed refugee team, made up of displaced players from around the world, will pla

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