The newly installed Taliban regime will forbid Afghan women from playing cricket and other sports where their bodies might be seen, a senior official tells Australian \u2026<\/b>
\nThe newly installed Taliban regime will forbid Afghan women from playing cricket and other sports where their bodies might be seen, a senior official tells Australian public broadcaster SBS. \u00ab\u00a0I don’t think women will be allowed to play cricket because it is not necessary that women should play cricket,\u00a0\u00bb said Ahmadullah Wasiq, deputy head of the Taliban’s cultural commission, according to a translation by SBS. Afghanistan has a national women’s cricket team \u2014 but their status has been thrown into question along with every other woman in the country, after the Taliban ousted the U.S.-backed government. Female athletes who once aspired to competing at the international level have resorted to hiding or attempting to flee the country. \u00ab\u00a0Every woman playing cricket or other sports is not safe right now,\u00a0\u00bb a member of the women’s team recently told the BBC. \u00ab\u00a0The situation is very bad in Kabul.\u00a0\u00bb Wasiq spoke to SBS as Afghanistan’s men’s team prepares to visit Australia for a test match in November. But when the outlet asked about the future of the national women’s team, the Taliban official suggested the outlook is bleak. \u00ab\u00a0In cricket, they might face a situation where their face and body will not be covered. Islam does not allow women to be seen like this,\u00a0\u00bb he said, according to SBS. \u00ab\u00a0It is the media era, and there will be photos and videos, and then people watch it. Islam and the Islamic Emirate do not allow women to play cricket or play the kind of sports where they get exposed,\u00a0\u00bb Wasiq said. The Taliban’s position could threaten Afghanistan’s standing in the sports world. The International Cricket Council requires countries to have women’s teams in order to qualify for full membership \u2014 a status Afghanistan reached in 2017. In light of Wasiq’s statement, the ICC says it has been monitoring the situation in Afghanistan and is \u00ab\u00a0concerned\u00a0\u00bb by the news that women could be banned from the sport, according to SBS.<\/p>\n