Taliban Bans MMA – Media — RT World News

“The athletes who participated in the sport can switch to another sport of their choice and continue their activities,” he said.

According to Mashwani, the decision followed an investigation into compliance with Islamic law in sports. “After the investigation it was decided that the sport should be banned.”

The spokesperson noted that Afghan sports authorities do not have statistics on the number of athletes participating in MMA, as the athletes “were part of private organizations and were not registered with the sports department.”

The Mixed Martial Arts Federation of Afghanistan, founded in 2008, had become popular among young people. In 2015, the first private MMA tournament in Afghanistan was set up.

The Afghanistan Fighting Championship (AFC) and the Truly Grand Fighting Championship (TGFC) staged dozens of fights before the Taliban returned to power in 2021. However, competitions were effectively banned shortly afterward following legislation that “face punch” was introduced.

According to media reports, most Afghan MMA fighters had left the country long before the latest announcement was made. Several Afghan athletes who participated in the Paris Games, either on the national team or the refugee team, were originally involved in combat sports. MMA is not recognized by the International Olympic Committee, mainly due to security concerns.

The Taliban first came to power in Afghanistan in the 1990s but were ousted in 2001 during the US-led invasion. The Taliban retook power in 2021 after a 20-year insurgency that forced Afghanistan’s internationally recognized president, Ashraf Ghani, to flee the country.