Taliban suspends chess over gambling concerns

The Taliban authorities successful Afghanistan has banned chess until further announcement owed to fears the crippled is simply a root of gambling.

Officials said the crippled has been prohibited indefinitely until its compatibility with Islamic instrumentality tin beryllium determined.

Chess is the latest athletics to beryllium restricted by the Taliban. Women are fundamentally barred from participating successful athletics astatine all.

Since seizing powerfulness successful August 2021, the Taliban has steadily imposed laws and regulations that bespeak its austere imaginativeness of Islamic law.

On Sunday, Atal Mashwani, the spokesperson of the Taliban government's sports directorate, said chess successful Islamic sharia instrumentality is "considered a means of gambling".

"There are spiritual considerations regarding the athletics of chess," helium told AFP quality agency.

"Until these considerations are addressed, the athletics of chess is suspended successful Afghanistan."

One cafe proprietor successful Kabul, who has hosted informal chess competitions successful caller years, said helium would respect the determination but it would wounded his business.

"Young radical don't person a batch of activities these days, truthful galore came present everyday," Azizullah Gulzada said.

"They would person a cupful of beverage and situation their friends to a crippled of chess."

He besides noted that chess is played successful different Muslim-majority countries.

Last year, the authorities banned escaped warring specified arsenic mixed martial arts (MMA) successful nonrecreational competition, saying it was excessively "violent" and "problematic with respect to sharia".

"It was recovered that the athletics is problematic with respect to Sharia and it has galore aspects which are contradictory to the teachings of Islam," a Taliban spokesperson said past August.

MMA competitions were efficaciously outlawed successful 2021 erstwhile the Taliban introduced authorities prohibiting "face-punching".