Senators offer footballers 2m afs in reward

KABUL, the upper house of parliament, on Sunday announced a reward of two million afghanis (over $35,700) for the national soccer team that clinched the South Asian Football Federation Championship in Kathmandu.

Thousands of people welcomed home the champions on Friday, when President Hamid Karzai embraced the players on arrival at the Kabul International Airport from Nepal, where they vanquished India 2-0 to win the major international event.

Senate Chairman Fazal Hadi Muslimyar, on behalf of the upper house, greeted the squad and the entire nation. While offering a $2,000 reward for the players, he asked senators to present their three-day pay to the team, a proposal welcomed by lawmakers.

The chairman’s monthly salary is 272,000 afghanis, while each member’s pay works out at 195,000 afghanis. The overall cash award thus comes to more than two million afghanis.

On Saturday, Wolesi Jirga Speaker Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi told the house the footballers had brought home well-deserved laurels. Announcing to give the team his one-month salary in reward, he asked MPs to present their three-day pay to the footballers.  

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