KABUL, AFGHANISTAN — The Taliban’s General Directorate of Physical Education and Sports has suspended chess across Afghanistan in the latest crackdown on sports and cultural life.
Atal Mashwani, Taliban spokesperson for the department, told TOLOnews that the decision followed concerns over the Chess Federation’s leadership and was based on “Sharia-related considerations.”
He added that the game may be reinstated pending further Islamic evaluation, though no timeline has been provided.
The Taliban have not clarified what specific aspects of chess they deem religiously objectionable.
This suspension is part of a broader crackdown on sports and public entertainment since the Taliban seized power in August 2021. The group has systematically restricted activities it deems incompatible with its interpretation of Islamic law.
Among other banned sports is mixed martial arts (MMA), which the regime describes as excessively violent and against Sharia. The group’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice reportedly led the effort to outlaw MMA after reviewing its alignment with Islamic principles.
Once a growing sport in Afghanistan, MMA competitions have since come to a halt, and athletes have been forced to quit or train underground.
Women have been hit hardest by the Taliban’s restrictions. Since their return, the regime has completely barred women from all forms of athletic participation, disbanded national women’s teams, and driven many athletes into exile.
Sports once offered women in Afghanistan a rare platform for public expression and empowerment, opportunities that have now disappeared under Taliban rule.
Human rights groups have condemned these policies as part of a larger campaign of repression.
The United Nations and other international bodies have described the systematic exclusion of women and girls from public life, including education, employment, and sports, as a form of “gender apartheid.”
