KABUL
\nAfghanistan\u2019s Taliban government has banned mixed martial arts (MMA), believing it to be un-Islamic, its sports authority said in a statement on Wednesday.
\nThe order was passed down by Afghanistan\u2019s morality police in the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice after an investigation into the sport\u2019s compliance with Islamic law, or sharia, the statement and local media said.
\n\u201cIt was found that the sport is problematic with respect to sharia and it has many aspects which are contradictory to the teachings of Islam,\u201d the Taliban government sports authority said in a statement. \u201cThat\u2019s why this decision has been made to ban mixed martial arts in Afghanistan.\u201d
\nA sports authority official told local media MMA was banned in part because it was considered too violent and posed the risk of injury or death.
\nThe Taliban authorities returned to power in 2021, implementing a strict interpretation of Islamic law.
\nThey recently ratified a morality law formalising many rules on behavior and dress, including that men must not wear shorts above the knee.
\nMartial arts are popular sports in Afghanistan.
\nFour of the 11 Afghans who competed at the Paris Games, on either the national or the Refugee Olympic teams, were martial arts athletes.
\nMMA has not been recognized as an Olympic sport, in part due to safety concerns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KABUL Afghanistan\u2019s Taliban government has banned mixed martial arts (MMA), believing it to be un-Islamic, its sports authority said in a statement on Wednesday. The order was passed down by Afghanistan\u2019s morality police in the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice after an investigation into the sport\u2019s compliance with Islamic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-427825","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n