Afghan sports administrator Kushal Malikzai was threatened with death by the Taliban. He and his eldest son were brutally beaten after Taliban fighters forced their way into his house at midnight. They had weapons pointed at them and they were told they would be shot because of their links to the previous government.

Kushal’s crime was to have been a champion of sport for women under the previous Afghan government, which was replaced by the Taliban in August last year.

But after a traumatic escape from his homeland, he is now effectively running Afghan volleyball from Australia.

Before the Taliban takeover, Kushal was the Secretary General of the national Volleyball Federation of Afghanistan.

Sponsored by the Australian Olympic Commission (AOC), the International Olympic Commission (IOCO) and the world volleyball organisation (FIVB) received a visa and arrived on June 23, 2022, with four children, wife, sister and mother.

“Volleyball is a big sport in Afghanistan. It is played everywhere, even in small villages and remote districts. And it attracts lots of spectators,” Kushal said.

“The Taliban had a big effect on sport as well as other aspects of life – and particularly on women.

“Women are now not permitted to play sport. This is devastating because since 2018 we had been supporting women to play sport. In volleyball we had also been focusing on international matches.

“We had the Afghan women’s team compete in the Asian Championships in Bangladesh in 2018.

“But even before the Taliban took control we were being threatened not to promote women’s sport. We would get phone calls saying: ‘You must stop. Women cannot play sport’,” he said.

Kushal helped to organise the escape of members the women’s teams to Iran, Pakistan and other countries after the Taliban took power in August 2021.

They recently travelled from Iran to Turkey to take part in the Islamic Women’s Solidarity Games.

“I didn’t involve my volleyball friends still in Afghanistan because of the risk from the Taliban,” he said.

Kushal has recently applied for a visa for the Netherlands to attend the FIVB World Congress.

“I have a presentation about the challenges sport, and volleyball in particular, in Afghanistan has faced under the Taliban and particularly women’s sport,” he said.

Kushal started playing volleyball from a young age and led to him becoming a volunteer administrator.

“Because of my interest, I started volunteering – first in marketing and then I became Secretary General.

“But for two years we have not had a president, so I have been running Afghan volleyball from Melbourne.

“I have been working with the IOC, and FIVB to try to keep volleyball alive in Afghanistan. We are planning some volleyball festivals for kids and we are looking at how we can organise some activities for women. We have also restarted the men’s volleyball league in Afghanistan.

Like many people who have fled Afghanistan, the arrival of the Taliban upended Kushal’s life.

“When the Taliban entered Kabul, I was in my office. When someone said they were coming no one believed them. But we all went home,” Kushal said.

“On the first day after that, the Taliban came to my apartment and took my car. They were going from house to house taking anything that was valuable,” he said.

“People were afraid and not sure what would happen. My family, at the time, were in Jalalabad, east of Kabul. I left Kabul and went there.

“Everyone was hiding from the Taliban and people were trying to leave the country. Then the borders closed and th4e US and other countries started the evacuation.

“I went back to Kabul and tried to get into the airport. But there was a bombing and I could not get in,” Kushal said.

It was then that Kushal received a phone call from the Taliban Sports Director which led to a chilling encounter.

“I was summoned with others to the Sports Directorate. The director introduced himself as the head trainer of the Taliban’s suicide bombers. Suddenly, everyone there went quite,” he said.

Shortly after this incident, Kushal received a visit from the Taliban at his home.

“It was midnight when the Taliban knocked the door of my house. I told them to comeback k in the daytime but they said ‘no, open the door’,” he said.

“They pushed their way in and they started beating me. They took me to one room and searched the house. They saw some photos and said to me: ‘you have been working for the government, you have weapons – bring them to us’.

“I said we don’t have anything but they beat me and my eldest son. I was frightened about what happen to my family.

“They threatened to kill us if it turnout we had something they wanted. They pointed their weapons at us and my family were afraid – my children were crying.”

After the threats, Kushal contacted the IOC and FIVB and with the support of the AOC was able to get humanitarian visas for Australia.

After spending three months in Pakistan, where they faced more problems with visas and exit permits, they were able to leave for Australia.

In Melbourne, Kushal and his eldest son are both working in temporary jobs with student and humanitarian accommodation provider Scape, where they themselves were housed on arrival, but they are looking a permanent house and full-time jobs.

Kushal’s work in volleyball has been voluntary but he has had a long career in Afghanistan working with NGOs and the government in education and social affairs.

Just two and half months before the Taliban’s takeover, he started a job with the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation as a Social Affairs Officer working on World Bank-funded road and bridge building projects.

Earlier, he had worked for five years in the UN Office in Kabul on a program called ‘Disarm, Demobilise and Reintegrate’ which sought to give training and financial support to integrate former Afghan soldiers to civil society.

Another job Kushal held was with Save the Children Sweden as a field coordinator in a program identifying former child soldiers.

“It was a risky job, we were identifying children recruited by Mujahedeen commanders and reintegrate them into normal society,” he said.

Kushal has studied in the UK, Japan and India but has always had a commitment to help rebuild his country.

“My work and my volunteering in volley were both part of this. I wanted to help create a modern and successful society in Afghanistan but that all ended when the Taliban came,” he said.

“I had good life in Afghanistan. Things were good for me and my family. But when the Taliban came, all our hopes for the future ended and we were forced to leave. The Taliban can do anything they want anytime. There is no one to complain to and you can’t defend yourself,” Kushal said.