Taliban authorities in Afghanistan’s north-eastern province of Takhar have today banned football and buzkashi (literally translated goat-dragging , a horse mounted sport in which players compete to place a goat or calf carcass into a circle in the field).
Calling football and buzkashi “arousing”, the group’s religious affairs and morality authority in Dasht-e-Qala district of Takhar province have banned the popular sports until further notice.
Residents in Dasht-E-Qala and a Taliban official confirmed the bans to KabulNow. Similar bans have been enforced in some other provinces, including bans on wrestling and bodybuilding clubs.
The Taliban had banned buzkashi when they were last in control of Afghanistan in the 1990s. Although football not banned, players had to be fully covered. The group used sports fields, including Kabul’s Ghazi Stadium, for public executions.
