Afghan Youth Could Upend The Country's Political Order

Soccer Fever in Kabul
Afghan football players of Ughabhaie Hendukosh, wearing red jerseys and representing central Afghanistan, and Mawjhaaie Amou wearing black jerseys and representing northern Afghanistan, vie for the ball during the first Afghan Premiere League football game at the Afghanistan Football Federation stadium in Kabul on September 19, 2012. Afghanistan launched its first professional football championship, where teams chosen on a groundbreaking reality television show, with the ambitious goal of bringing peace to the war-torn country. AFP PHOTO / Massoud HOSSAINI (Photo credit should read MASSOUD HOSSAINI/AFP/GettyImages)
Afghan football players of Ughabhaie Hendukosh, wearing red jerseys and representing central Afghanistan, and Mawjhaaie Amou wearing black jerseys and representing northern Afghanistan, vie for the ball during the first Afghan Premiere League football game at the Afghanistan Football Federation stadium in Kabul on September 19, 2012. Afghanistan launched its first professional football championship, where teams chosen on a groundbreaking reality television show, with the ambitious goal of bringing peace to the war-torn country. AFP PHOTO / Massoud HOSSAINI (Photo credit should read MASSOUD HOSSAINI/AFP/GettyImages)

KABUL — October days are usually crisp and clear in Kabul, but last Friday soccer fans awoke to leaden skies and an intermittent drizzle.

Still, the open-air bleachers of Kabul’s main soccer stadium were packed, with 5,000 spectators, while outside the police, toting AK-47s and wooden batons, kept an overflow crowd at bay. It was the final match of the Afghan Premier League’s first season, a feverishly exciting day in a city whose youth desperately lack opportunities for wholesome entertainment.

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