Football's world governing body FIFA has resisted calls to recognise the Afghan women's football team living in exile in Australia, forced to watch the Women's World Cup from the sidelines.
The Afghan players still wear their country's red kit, but now it bears the crest of Melbourne Victory, a club thousands of kilometres from home.
In a statement to SBS, FIFA said it does not have the right to officially recognise any team unless it is first recognised by the concerned member association.
Team captain Fatima says her players still love the chance to pursue their passions.
"I think it's a second chance for us. It's not only important for one reason, it's important for a lot of reasons, which is about family, as we don't have our first family, we have our second family, because of football, which made us to be a family right now and playing together."
Former captain Khalida Popal says nearly two years later, the trauma of escaping from Kabul airport is still being felt.
They have lost a lot. In August it'll be two years. In two years they are still dealing with nightmares, they are still having trauma.
She says some players are afraid of certain noises.
"But they are doing everything possible to participate positively in society as refugees, as women of Afghanistan. They haven't even taken a break.
The team escaped on an Australian evacuation flight in August 2021, but many relatives stayed behind as darkness descended on their country.
The Taliban began imposing harsher rules which only curbed women's rights even further, while team captain Fatima watched from afar.
"It's very hard, like can you imagine yourself stuck in a square and not go outside? You can't even imagine that you're not allowed to work, not allowed to play, not allowed to study.
"It's very hard to even imagine, so right now the reality is in Afghanistan, this is the thing that is happening. This is not a good thing, it's not better than before, it's worse than before."
Co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, the women's World Cup is in full swing, attracting record crowds.
The team was boosted on Friday by a visit from Australia's most senior female politician Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who even took a penalty from the spot.
While her footballing skills weren't quite up there with Afghanistan's most elite female players, the visit sent a strong message to the country about women's role in society.
In the absence of recognition from FIFA came solidarity from ministers and dignitaries in Australia, including Wong.
"We will continue to work with others, as I say to shape the world for the better, that's what we'll try and do, and it was a real privilege to meet with these young women and listen to some of their stories and I hope that we can keep engaging with them."
Wahidulla Waissi, Afghanistan's ambassador in exile, was also in attendance at the session, and told SBS about the importance of the World Cup in promoting women's sport.
"We had a very good number of dignitaries, ministers, ambassadors from more than 10 countries here. It shows that the world is against and they are against barbarism, Talibanism and what is happening in Afghanistan."
The dream for these players is the next world cup, playing in a team of sisters united by a love of the game.
