PFF refuse to condemn tonsures

PFF refuse to condemn tonsures

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

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

The Taliban had earlier decreed that men could wear only shalwars (baggy trousers) when playing football. The game, which has a passionate following in Afghanistan, was reluctantly allowed by the Taliban, alongwith male wrestling, after most sport activities were banned for being a waste of time.

But the Pakistani guests of the Taliban had a rude shock when they played their friendly match in Kandahar. ``All of a sudden, the Taliban soldiers raided the Kandhar stadium and arrested the players of the Pakistani Junior soccer team while the game was in progress,'' Abdul Qayuum, captain of the young Afghan Club, Chaman (Pakistan) told a Pakistani newspaper.

He was leading a 17-member team on an official invitation to play friendly matches with the local teams in Kandahar. ``Only five Pak players were able to escape while the rest were rounded up and their heads were shaven off as a punishment for wearing shorts,'' Qayuum said. He said the players were 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 Pakistani consulate. But the Pakistan Football Federation said that it would not condemn 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 their boxing team to shave their beards - as it is a crime to shave one's beard in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. The boxers were automatically disqualified from their Asian Boxing engagements.