KABUL: Afghanistan's Taliban government has banned mixed martial arts (MMA), its sports authority said in a statement issued on Wednesday.
The order was issued by Afghanistan's morality police at the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice after an investigation into the sport's compliance with its own interpretation of Islamic law, according to the statement and local media.
“The sport has been found to be problematic with regard to sharia law and has many aspects that are contradictory to the teachings of Islam,” the Taliban government's sports authority said in a statement sent to AFP.
“That is why the decision has been taken to ban mixed martial arts in Afghanistan.”
A sports authority official told local media that MMA was banned in part because it was considered too violent and posed a risk of injury or death.
Taliban authorities returned to power in 2021, enforcing their strict interpretation of “Islamic law.”
They recently passed a morality law that formalizes many rules about behavior and dress, including that men should not wear shorts above the knee.
Martial arts are popular sports in Afghanistan.
Four of the 11 Afghans who competed at the Paris Games, both on the national team and the refugee Olympic team, were martial arts athletes.
MMA has not been recognized as an Olympic sport, in part due to safety concerns.
