The International Olympic Committee on Thursday confirmed the list of athletes who will form the IOC Refugee Olympic Team for the Paris 2024 games – of which four are from Afghanistan.

The four athletes are Amir Ansari, who will participate in the road cycling event; Arab Sibghatullah, in judo; Farzad Mansouri, in taekwondo; and Nigara Shaheen, in judo.

A total of 36 athletes from 11 different countries of origin will form the team. They will compete in 12 different sports: aquatics (swimming), athletics, badminton, boxing, breaking, canoe (slalom and sprint), cycling (road), judo, shooting, taekwondo, weightlifting, and wrestling (freestyle and Greco-Roman).

IOC President Thomas Bach made the announcement during a ceremony at Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Thursday (2 May). He said: “We welcome all of you with open arms. You are an enrichment to our Olympic Community, and to our societies.

“With your participation in the Olympic Games, you will demonstrate the human potential of resilience and excellence. This will send a message of hope to the more than 100 million displaced people around the world.”

The IOC Refugee Olympic Team is competing at the Olympic Games for the third time, after previous appearances at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.

This year, its chef-de-mission will be Masomah Ali Zada, who competed as a member of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team Tokyo 2020.

Afghanistan’s athlete profiles:

Amir Ansari

Cycling Road

Amir was born in Iran but grew up in Afghanistan, before he fled in 2015. Since then, Amir has sought refuge in Sweden and trains with the Stockholm Cycling Club. He has participated in national and international championships in time trial and road race competitions as part of the Stockholm CK team and UCI Refugee Team.

Arab Sibghatullah

Judo

Sibghatullah’s journey in Judo began when he was just eight years old in Kunduz province, Afghanistan. His talent earned him a spot on the Afghanistan National Youth Judo team at the age of nineteen. When he left the country, he traveled overland through several countries, including Iran, Türkiye, Greece, Bosnia, and Slovenia, before finally arriving in Germany in November 2022.

Today, as a Refugee Athlete Scholarship-holder, Sibghatullah trains with the 1. Judo-Club in Mönchengladbach, Germany, and dedicates two days per week to training at a training camp in Köln.

His hard work and dedication paid off when he secured 7th place at the European Open Madrid in the summer of 2023. He firmly believes in the importance of consistency and never misses a morning in the gym.

Farzad Mansouri

Taekwondo

Farzad was born in Parwan, Afghanistan. Representing Afghanistan, he won a silver medal at the 2019 Asian Junior Taekwondo Championships in Amman and was the flagbearer for Afghanistan at the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Soon after the Games, Farzad left Afghanistan and today he trains alongside Great Britain (GB) Taekwondo athletes and continues to improve his English. His focus is on performing his best at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Nigara Shaheen

Female judoka

Born in Afghanistan, Nigara is a judoka who competes in the -70kg category. She took up judo when she was 11, living as a refugee in Peshawar, Pakistan, as practicing martial arts was a family tradition.

She has a master’s degree in international trade from the Ural Federal University in Ekaterinburg. Since September 2022, she has been living in Canada, where she studies and trains.

As a member of the IJF Refugee Team, she participated in the Düsseldorf Grand Slam in 2020 and the Kazan Grand Slam in 2021. She was a member of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team Tokyo 2020 in the individual and mixed team events.

Broadcasting rights

Ariana Television Network (ATN) will officially broadcast this year’s Olympic Games exclusively on Ariana Television.

The games will start on Friday, July 26 and run through to Sunday August 11.

Sorkh Poshan Khafi thrashed Jawanan Wahedi FC 3-0 in the 23rd match of Afghanistan Champions League (ACL) in Kabul on Wednesday, while Khadim FC beat Istiqlal Kabul FC 2-1 in the 24th match of the tournament on the same day.

Sorkh Poshan Khafi’s three goals against Jawanan Wahedi FC were scored by Hamid Amiri (1), Massoud Azadani (1), Farhad Alizada (1).

Hamid Amiri who was declared man of the match.

In the second match of the day, Khadim FC’s Shahzad Sancharaki scored two goals for his team.

Istiqlal Kabul FC’s only goal was scored by Hamid Ghulami.

Sancharaki was named man of the match.

Thursday’s matches will see Abu Muslim Farah FC take on Mawj Sahil FC at 1pm, while Attack Energy FC play Maiwand FC at 3:30pm.

The matches are broadcast live on Ariana Television.

Key knocks by Jonny Bairstow and Rilee Rossouw helped Punjab Kings to a comfortable seven-wicket victory over defending champions Chennai Super Kings in the IPL on Wednesday.

Chasing 163 for victory, Punjab depended on Bairstow’s 46 and 43 by Rossouw to achieve victory with 13 balls to spare at Chennai’s M. Chidambaram Stadium, AFP reported.

England’s Bairstow kept up his form from the previous match when he hit an unbeaten 108 as Punjab chased down a record IPL target of 262 against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens.

Bairstow and Rossouw, a left-handed South African batsman, put on 64 runs for the second wicket to set up the chase.

Shivam Dube had Bairstow caught behind and Shardul Thakur bowled Rossouw to have Punjab in trouble at 113-3 in 12 overs.

Shashank Singh, who made 25, and skipper Sam Curran, who hit 26, then put on an unbeaten stand of 50 to steer the team home for just their fourth win and keep their slim play-off hopes alive.

Five-time winners Chennai have won five and lost five and stay fourth in the 10-team table led by Rajasthan Royals.

The pitch in Chennai was not run-friendly as the hosts posted 162-7 riding on skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad’s 62 and late evening dew added to the home team’s misery.

But bowlers set up victory with spinners Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar taking two wickets each in their miserly spells — both giving away 33 runs in eight overs combined.

Gaikwad put on an opening stand of 64 with Ajinkya Rahane and despite losing wickets the other end kept calm to push the total forward.

Gaikwad surpassed Royal Challengers Bengaluru star Virat Kohli (500) as the leading batsman in the T20 tournament with 509 runs in 10 innings.

Gaikwad built key partnerships in the middle-order with Sameer Rizvi, who hit 21, and Moeen Ali, who made 15, before being bowled by left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh.

Veteran M.S. Dhoni came out to a rousing reception from the home crowd in what is likely his last IPL as player and he hit 14 off 11 balls before being run out on the final ball, AFP reported.