2024-08-28 15:28:17
The ruling Taliban in Afghanistan has banned the practice of martial arts (MMA) that it considers violent and compatible with Islam, sports authorities announced on Thursday.
The order was ordered by the moral police, under the Ministry of Virtue Promotion and Vice Prevention (PVPV), after an investigation into the sport’s compliance with Islamic law, or sharia, according to a press release and local media.
“We have noticed that this sport is problematic under Sharia law and that, in many places, it is against the teachings of Islam,” said the sports authority of the Taliban government in a press release sent to AFP. “This is why we made the decision to ban martial arts in Afghanistan.”
Too violent a sport
A sports executive told local media that MMA has been banned in part because it is so violent, it is likely to result in injury or even death.
MMA is a great combat sport that combines the principles and rules of many disciplines ranging from wrestling to judo or Thai boxing.
Very popular in Afghanistan, the sport born in Brazil has suffered from a sulphurous image for a long time because it allows kicks, punches, knees and elbows, as well as blows to the ground, hooks and buttons inside an enclosure.
That the discipline is so violent, France is one of the last major countries to officially ban MMA, before it is legalized in 2020. The sport is, however, not an Olympic discipline , partly for security reasons.
Four of the eleven Afghan athletes participating in the Paris Games, as part of the national team or the refugee Olympic team, are military athletes.
An ultra-hard interpretation of Islamic law
Taliban rulers returned to power in 2021 and used a very strict interpretation of Islamic law. They announced on August 22 a law which imposes new restrictions on women in particular.
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