Broadcast of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been banned in Afghanistan by the country’s new Taliban government, according to reports. The ruling Taliban has banned the broadcast of the matches in the country terming the content as “anti-Islamic”. The second leg of the IPL started on Sunday but the cricket fanatic people of Afghanistan did not get to watch the matches as the Taliban has issued a diktat to the local media against showing the IPL because of the presence of women as cheerleaders and among the watching public in UAE.
The IPL 2021 season resumed in the United Arab Emirates, which is also an Islamic state, with a game between Chennai Super Kings and defending champions Mumbai Indians. Top Afghanistan cricketers like Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb ur Rahman are taking part in IPL 2021. Former Afghanistan Cricket Board media manager M Ibrahim Momand tweeted stating that due to possible anti-Islam content, girls dancing and the attendance of barred hair women in the Islamic Emirates of the Taliban, IPL broadcast has been banned in the country. Meanwhile, the Taliban has sacked the head of Afghanistan’s cricket board, replacing him with a member of the feared Haqqani network. Ever since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, women have been banned from working in offices or participating in sports activities as that is considered anti-Islam. Cricket Australia have called off a one-off Test against the Afghanistan men’s team because of the Taliban’s opposition to women’s participation in sports. During the extremist group’s regime from 1996 to 2001, women were banned from playing any sport.
