A chess participant attends a event in Kandahar on July 30, 2022 — AFP
Kabul: Taliban authorities have barred chess throughout Afghanistan till additional discover over issues it’s a supply of playing, which is against the law underneath the federal government’s morality regulation, a sports activities official stated on Sunday.
The Taliban authorities has steadily imposed legal guidelines and laws that replicate its austere imaginative and prescient of Islamic regulation since seizing energy in 2021.
“Chess in sharia (Islamic law) is considered a means of gambling,” which is prohibited in accordance with the Propagation of Advantage and Prevention of Vice regulation introduced final 12 months, sports activities directorate spokesperson Atal Mashwani informed AFP.
“There are religious considerations regarding the sport of chess,” he stated.
“Until these considerations are addressed, the sport of chess is suspended in Afghanistan,” he added.
Mashwani stated the nationwide chess federation had not held any official occasions for round two years and “had some issues on the leadership level”.
Azizullah Gulzada owns a restaurant in Kabul that has hosted casual chess competitions in recent times, however denied any playing passed off and famous chess was performed in different Muslim-majority international locations.
“Many other Islamic countries have players on an international level,” he informed AFP.
He stated he would respect the suspension however that it could harm his enterprise and people who loved the sport.
“Young people don’t have a lot of activities these days, so many came here everyday,” he informed AFP.
“They would have a cup of tea and challenge their friends to a game of chess.”
Afghanistan’s authorities have restricted different sports activities in recent times and girls have been primarily barred from collaborating in sport altogether within the nation.
Final 12 months, the authorities banned free preventing similar to blended martial arts (MMA) in skilled competitors, saying it was too “violent” and “problematic with respect to sharia”.
