A number of Afghanistan women’s football team players evacuated to UK after the Taliban took control of the country ‘hadn’t even played the sport’, an investigation has claimed.

Some 35 members of the women’s national team were flown to safety in the UK along with their families - 130 people in total - from Pakistan in November 2021.

The women - aged between 13 and 19 at the time - were granted visas by the UK Home Office as they were considered to be at increased risk from the Taliban as they played a sport deemed un-Islamic by the insurgent group.

But an investigation believes around a third of the 35 women granted asylum had never actually played for the team.

Speaking to former players, coaches, and officials for the Afghan women’s team, the investigation identified 13 individuals who it claimed were not part of the team.