Sport in Afghanistan

Sport in Afghanistan is managed by the Afghan Sports Federation. Cricket and association football are the two most popular sports in Afghanistan. The traditional and the national sport of Afghanistan has been Buzkashi. The Afghan Sports Federation has promoted many types of sports, including association football, basketball, bodybuilding, bowling, boxing, cricket, golf, skating, snooker, taekwondo, track and field, volleyball, and weightlifting.

The Afghanistan national cricket team's win over Namibia in Krugersdorp earned them official One Day International status in April 2009. The Afghanistan Cricket Board is Afghanistan's representative at the International Cricket Council and was an associate member of ICC from June 2013 to 2017. It is also a member of the Asian Cricket Council. Afghanistan became a full member of the International Cricket Council on 22 June 2017, entitling the national team to participate in official Test matches.

Basketball

Main article: Afghanistan national basketball team

Local basketball game in Kabul between teams from Herat and Badghis provinces. The Afghanistan national basketball team won a gold medal in the 2010 South Asian Games.

Basketball was first played in Afghanistan in 1936. In 1966, the Afghanistan National Olympic Committee (ANOC) founded the Afghanistan national basketball team after receiving challenges from India and Pakistan. Tom Gouttierre, an American Peace Corps and coach of the team at Habibia High School, became the first coach. It has been played by both Afghan men and women.

• Champions: 2010 South Asian Games
• Champions: 2012 Asian Beach Games

Bodybuilding

Bodybuilding is widely enjoyed in Afghanistan, and the country is a member of the International Federation of BodyBuilding and Fitness (IFBB). An Afghan by the name of Ali Reza Asahi won a gold medal in the 2023 World Bodybuilding Championships, which was held in Seoul, South Korea. Another named Mohammad Ayoub Azami won a silver medal in the same competition. Ahmad Yasin Salik Qaderi ("Mr. Muscles") became the overall winner of the 2017 WBPF World Championship, which was held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Boxing

Boxing has recently flourished in Afghanistan, with Hamid Rahimi having a huge influence in the country. The first ever boxing match in Afghanistan was held in 2012 with Rahimi fighting and winning by TKO (Technical Knockout).

Cricket

Main article: Cricket in Afghanistan

The Afghanistan national cricket team at the 2010 ICC WCL Division One in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Cricket is currently the most popular sport in Afghanistan. The Afghanistan national cricket team recently played in the 2023 Cricket World Cup. In the national level, cricket matches are played between provinces, mainly between the south and eastern provinces of the country. According to locals, cricket has helped Afghanistan in bringing unity.

The Afghanistan national cricket team was formed in 2001 and was set up mainly by Afghans returning from Pakistan. It was led by Taj Malik Alam, with some help from the British Embassy. From starting with a match against the British Army in 2002, the Afghan team has gone on to hold matches against all major international cricket teams. The Afghans rapidly rose through the World Cricket League since early 2008. The team participated in the 2009 ICC World Cup Qualifier, and qualified for the first time for the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 in the 2010 ICC World Cricket League Division One. It has competed in the ICC World Twenty20 since their qualification in 2010 and their debut for the Cricket World Cup since 2015. The Afghanistan national women's cricket team was formed in 2010.

Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) is the official governing body of the sport of cricket in Afghanistan. Its current headquarters is in Kabul. The Afghanistan Cricket Board is Afghanistan's representative at the International Cricket Council and was an associate member of ICC from June 2013 to 2017. Now it is one of the full members of ICC since 2017. It is also a member of the Asian Cricket Council.

Afghanistan's playing season runs from May to September. There are 320 cricket clubs and 6 turf wickets in Afghanistan. In February 2017 the International Cricket Council (ICC) awarded first-class status to Afghanistan's four-day domestic competition. They also granted List A status to their existing Twenty20 domestic competition, as Afghanistan did not have a domestic 50-over tournament. In May 2017 however, the ICC recognised the 50-over Ghazi Amanullah Khan Regional One Day Tournament by granting it List A status.

Starting from 2017 season, Afghanistan has a four-day first-class competition (Ahmad Shah Abdali 4-day Tournament), a 50-over List A competition (Ghazi Amanullah Khan Regional One Day Tournament) and a recognized Twenty20 league (Shpageeza Cricket League).

• Winners of the ACC Twenty20 Cup the most number of times (2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013).
• Cricket World Cup Appearances: 3 (2015, 2019, 2023)

Football

Main article: Football in Afghanistan

The Afghanistan national football team (in red strip) playing against India's team (in blue) during the 2011 SAFF Championship. It marked Afghanistan's first win over Nepal.

The Afghanistan national football team was formed in 1922, joining FIFA in 1948 and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in 1954. Afghanistan's only appearance and first FIFA international match was at the Olympic Games football tournament in the 1948 Summer Olympic Games when they played Luxembourg on 26 July 1948 and lost 6–0. Although it did not play in any international games from 1984 to 2003 due to internal conflicts, it is striving and hoping to make it to FIFA one day. The national stadium, which was built during the reign of King Amanullah Khan, has been used for football matches between teams from different provinces of the country as well as neighboring countries. In the national level, football matches are played between provinces or regions. The Afghanistan women's national football team was formed in 2007. During the 2011 SAFF Championship, the Afghan team marked its first win over Nepal.

• Winner of the 2013 FIFA Fair Play Award
• Champions of the 2013 SAFF Championship
• Runners-up of the 2011 & 2015 SAFF Championship
• Runners-up of the 2010 South Asian Games

Mixed Martial Arts

Afghans have taken a recent interest in mixed martial arts. There are several gyms in Afghanistan which promote the sport and have fighters. Siyar Bahadurzada is a mixed martial artist who competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is well known for holding and wearing the Afghan flag around himself before and after his professional fights.

Taekwondo

Rohullah Nikpai, two-time Olympic bronze medalist 58kg and 68kg in Taekwondo.

Rohullah Nikpai was the first Afghan to win a medal for his country in the Olympics. He won bronze in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, the only two occasions Afghanistan have received medals. The sport has recently thrived in Afghanistan under his influence.

Nikpai's medal tally summary in the Olympics:

• Bronze in 2008 Olympics
• Bronze in 2012 Olympics

Other sports

See also: Traditional games of Afghanistan

Other sports in which Afghans competed in include volleyball, golf, track and field, team handball, rugby, weightlifting, ice skating, bowling, baseball, snooker, and chess. Saleh Mohammad is a professional Afghan snooker player, who previously represented Pakistan in international competitions but is now representing Afghanistan.

Buzkashi is a traditional sport and it is mostly played by people in northern Afghanistan and in Central Asia.

The Afghanistan Rugby Federation (ARF) was formed in 2011, and is registered with the National Olympic Committee and approved by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The national team participated in the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia and took part in the Olympic qualifiers in South Korea in 2019.

Afghanistan also became a member of the Federation of International Bandy in 2012.

In 2015 Afghanistan held its first marathon; among those who ran the entire marathon was one woman, Zainab, age 25, who thus became the first Afghan woman to run in a marathon within her own country.

Stadiums and gymnasiums

Ghazi Stadium in the city of Kabul

The Sherzai Cricket Stadium in Jalalabad during its construction in 2011

There are small sized football stadiums in most major cities of Afghanistan, which were built before the 1970s and they lack modern seatings. They will only improve once more if people turn to sport and the nation's economy picks up, including the security situation and proper investors are found. The President of the Afghanistan Cricket Board, Omar Zakhilwal, announced in October 2010 that the government was planning to construct standard cricket grounds in all 34 provinces in the next two years. There is also another larger gymnasium under construction in Kabul. Currently, there is only the Olympic Committee Gymnasium, which is constantly used by teams of different sports.

The following are some of the major stadiums in Afghanistan:

• Ghazi Amanullah International Cricket Stadium in Ghazi Amanullah Town, 25 kilometres (15 miles) east of Jalalabad
• Sherzai Cricket Stadium in Jalalabad
• Kandahar International Cricket Stadium in Kandahar
• Kandahar Stadium
• Kabul National Cricket Stadium in Kabul
• Ghazi Stadium in Kabul

By capacity:

Name	Location	Capacity	Sport
Ghazi Stadium	Kabul	25,000	Association football
Ahmad Shahi Stadium	Kandahar	20,000	Association football
Ghazi Amanullah International Cricket Stadium	Jalalabad	14,000	Cricket
Kandahar International Cricket Stadium	Kandahar	14,000	Cricket

External links

• "Sports". Ariana News.
• "Sports". Pajhwok Afghan News.
• "Sport". TOLOnews.