Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities has banned combined martial arts (MMA), saying it’s incompatibile with Islamic regulation.
An official from the Taliban’s sports activities authority, talking to native broadcaster TOLOnews on Tuesday, mentioned that MMA was too violent and posed a danger of dying.
The order was handed down by Afghanistan’s morality police within the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Advantage and the Prevention of Vice.
It comes after an investigation into the game’s compliance with Islamic regulation, or Sharia.
“It was discovered that the game is problematic with respect to sharia and it has many points that are contradictory to the teachings of Islam,” the Taliban’s Basic Directorate on Bodily Schooling and Sport mentioned in an announcement despatched to the AFP information company.
“That’s why this choice has been made.”
MMA is a well-liked sport amongst younger individuals in Afghanistan, and garnered a passionate native fan base within the 20 years main as much as the Taliban’s return to energy in 2021.
The Blended Martial Arts Federation was based in 2008, whereas the Afghanistan Preventing Championship (AFC) and Really Grand Preventing Championship (TGFC) held dozens of fights.
Though it doesn’t appear to have been particularly named in official decrees, MMA has been underneath extreme stress ever for the reason that Taliban took over.
Competitions have been successfully outlawed in 2021 when the Taliban launched laws prohibiting “face-punching”.
Some fighters additionally complained of threats and harassment from Taliban officers, in line with interviews revealed in MMA publications.
But the authorities did seem to melt their stance on some events.
In 2022, main fighter Ahmad Wali Hotak was capable of maintain a press convention within the capital Kabul to announce an upcoming combat, which he received in Russia.
On his return to Afghanistan, he was met by authorities figures who posed for pictures.
Most rivals, nevertheless, had lengthy left the nation earlier than this newest announcement.
MMA has not but been recognised by the Worldwide Olympic Committee, primarily resulting from security issues.
4 of the 11 Afghan who competed in sports activities on the Paris Video games, on both the nationwide or the Refugee Olympic groups, have been initially martial arts athletes.
