UEFA president Platini to visit Afghanistan on Sunday

Michael Platini will show his support to football in the war-torn country.

KABUL: UEFA president Michel Platini is set to visit Afghanistan on Sunday to lend his support to football in the war-torn country, weeks after it claimed its first international trophy.

Afghanistan erupted in celebration after the national team beat India 2-0 in the final of the South Asian Football Federation championship on September 11. Afghanistan had also beaten neighbours Pakistan 3-0 in Kabul during a friendly match earlier in August.

Platini, a 58-year-old former international French footballer, will meet Afghan football officials and also attend a press conference, a spokesperson for the Afghan Football Federation (AFF), Murtaza Danesh, told AFP.

"We are happy and excited about his trip to Afghanistan and will warmly welcome him," Danesh said.

"The visit will be a boost to the Afghan national football team."

The victory over India triggered massive joy across Afghanistan, where US-led international forces and government troops have been fighting a 12-year war against a Taliban insurgency.

The Taliban, which ruled from 1996 to 2001 until they were deposed by a US-led international coalition, allowed football but before matches at the national football ground in Kabul would carry out public executions.