Taliban mulls ban on boxing

Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban movement was considering a ban on boxing for causing mental and physical troubles for athletes, AFP reported on Sunday. The Taliban’s new sports minister Mawlawi Qalamuddin, speaking at a boxing match in the capital Kabul on Saturday, said, “If we find out its [boxing’s] professional, religious and physical harms, it is likely that we may ban it.” He said athletes had been ordered to avoid punching to the face as it was “contrary to human dignity.” The Taliban had already imposed strict regulations on sports - athletes, including boxers, had to grow untrimmed beards, wear long pants and stop matches at prayer time. Sports were out of bounds for women.