There will be no broadcast of IPL 2021 in Afghanistan, which is now under Taliban rule, fearing that ‘anti-Islam contents’ could be aired during the programming.
Taliban has already banned most forms of entertainment including sports.
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The regime has completely barred women from playing sport.
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Former Afghanistan Cricket Board media manager and journalist M Ibrahim Momand in a tweet said due to possible anti-Islam content, IPL broadcast has been banned in the country by the Islamic Emirates of the Taliban.
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“Afghanistan national Radio Television will not broadcast the @IPL as usual as it was reportedly banned to live the matches resumed tonight due to possible anti-islam contents, girls dancing & the attendence of barred hair women in the Stadium by Islamic Emirates of the Taliban,” Momand tweeted.
Afghanistan national ? ? will not broadcast the @IPL as usual as it was reportedly banned to live the matches resumed tonight due to possible anti-islam contents, girls dancing & the attendence of barred hair women in the ?? by Islamic Emirates of the Taliban. #CSKvMI pic.twitter.com/dmPZ3rrKn6
— Nameless (@IbrahimReporter) September 19, 2021
After foreign forces withdrew from the country, Bashir Ahmad Rustamzai, Afghanistan’s new director general for sports, last week declined to answer as to whether women would be allowed to play sports, deferring it for top-level Taliban leaders to decide.
The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has raised a question over the future of the country’s participation in Test cricket matches as under the International Cricket Council regulations, nations must also have an active women’s team.
Australia’s cricket chiefs earlier threatened to cancel a historic maiden Test between the two countries, which was scheduled to be held in November, after a senior Taliban official in a TV channel said it was “not necessary” for women to play, says a media report.
When they were in power for the first time before being ousted in 2001, the Taliban banned most forms of entertainment including several sports.
They used the stadiums as public execution venues.
But after their ouster, sport became immensely popular in the last few decades as a result of cricket-mad Pakistan across the border.
The Afghan men’s team is also scheduled to play T20 World Cup from October 17-November 14 in the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
Last week, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) requested Australia not to punish its men’s team, saying it was “powerless to change the culture and religious environment of Afghanistan”.