For Taliban, soccer in shorts is obscene

For Taliban, soccer in shorts is obscene
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

KARACHI, July 18: The Pakistan Football Federation said today that it would not condemn an incident in neighbouring Afghanistan last week in which members of the Taliban militia shaved the heads of Pakistani soccer players for wearing ``un-Islamic dress'' during a friendly football match with Afghans atKandahar.

The bizarre incident occurred when the Taliban raided the third matchbetween the players from Pakistan and their Afghan competitors in thereligious capital of Afghanistan, Kandahar, and accused the Pakistani playersof ``spreading obscenity and inciting passions'' by wearing shorts.

The Taliban had earlier decreed that men could wear only shalwars (baggytrousers) when playing football. The game, which has a passionate followingin Afghanistan, was reluctantly allowed by the Taliban, alongwith malewrestling, after most sport activities were banned for being a waste oftime.

But the Pakistani guests of the Taliban had a rude shock when they playedtheir friendly match in Kandahar. ``All of a sudden, the Taliban soldiersraided the Kandhar stadium and arrested the players of the Pakistani Juniorsoccer team while the game was in progress,'' Abdul Qayuum, captain of theyoung Afghan Club, Chaman (Pakistan) told a Pakistani newspaper.

He was leading a 17-member team on an official invitation to play friendlymatches with the local teams in Kandahar. ``Only five Pak players wereable to escape while the rest were rounded up and their heads were shavenoff as a punishment for wearing shorts,'' Qayuum said. He said the playerswere released on Sunday last and were deported to Pakistan.

He alleged that local players who were also wearing the same dress (shorts)were not punished.

The Pakistani players who escaped sought refuge in the local Pakistaniconsulate. But the Pakistan Football Federation said that it would notcondemn the incident since the punishment was ``not that severe'' and that the match was not an official engagement between the two countries.

Earlier, Afghanistan hit the sports headlines when it did not allow theirboxing team to shave their beards - as it is a crime to shave one's beard inTaliban-controlled Afghanistan. The boxers were automatically disqualifiedfrom their Asian Boxing engagements.