The sports ban is part of the Taliban’s escalating campaign of restrictions, which has effectively shut down life for girls and women. Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, girls have been barred from attending middle and high school. They also ordered that all women be expelled from universities last month. Women are required to cover their hair and faces in public and are not permitted to visit parks or gyms. They have severely restricted women’s ability to work outside the home and, most recently, prohibited non-governmental organisations from hiring women, threatening the vital flow of aid.
Even before the Taliban, many in Afghanistan’s deeply conservative society viewed women’s sports as a violation of women’s modesty and their role in society. Nonetheless, the previous, internationally supported government had programmes encouraging women’s sports as well as school clubs, leagues, and national teams for women in a variety of sports.
A 20-year-old mixed martial artist recalled competing in a local women’s tournament at a Kabul sports hall in August 2021. The advancing Taliban were on the outskirts of the city, according to the audience and participants. The women and girls all fled the hall. It was the young athlete’s last ever competition.
Even before the Taliban, many in Afghanistan’s deeply conservative society were opposed to women’s sports. Noura claims she has faced opposition her entire life when attempting to participate in sports. When she was nine, a coach noticed her and encouraged her to join a girls’ youth team. She kept it a secret from everyone except her father, but her own talent blew her cover. She was named the best girl soccer player in her age group when she was 13, and her name was broadcast on television. When Noura’s mother discovered she was good at soccer, she says she burned her uniform and shoes. Noura: They were asking why you played sports. Sports are prohibited. Three months later, someone identifying himself as a Taliban member called the family and threatened her. She left Kabul, disguised in her burqa, to visit her family’s hometown.
