SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The Taliban government of Afghanistan has banned chess due to concerns that it violates the country’s strict laws around gambling.
According to AFP News, the Taliban believe that chess is subject to gambling, going against the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice law introduced in 2024.
A spokesperson for the Afghan Sports Directorate, Atal Mashawani, told AFP that the Taliban considers chess a form of gambling under Islamic Sharia law.
His statement does imply, however, that chess may be permitted if what the government calls certain ‘religious considerations’ are addressed, likely referring to any cases of gambling on the game.
“There are religious considerations regarding the sport of chess,” he told the agency. “Until these considerations are addressed, the sport of chess is suspended in Afghanistan.”
Gambling is heavily frowned upon in Islamic law and theology, alongside other practices like the consumption of alcohol. As such it is strictly prohibited in most Islamic countries.
Almost all Muslim-majority countries throughout Asia and Africa prohibit gambling in its entirety, with a few notable exceptions. Turkey and the UAE, for example, both permit lotteries but strictly ban casinos and sports betting.
Change may be on the horizon in the latter, however, with the UAE having created a regulator, General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA), to oversee a planned expansion of its gaming sector.
This is part of a move to further expand and diversify the country’s already highly lucrative tourism sector. It has also already gained international interest, with Wynn Resorts securing the first licence in October last year.
Any expansion of gambling in the UAE will still be subject to the state’s religious principles, however. Gaming will be closed off to certain designated zones throughout the country, something the government has been exploring the use of geolocation technology for in order to enforce.
As noted above, Turkey is another example of a Muslim-majority nation where gambling is tolerated to some extent. The country only allows gambling via the state-owned lottery and betting services, which are provided by Sisal, the Italy-based firm acquired by global gaming giant Flutter Entertainment in 2021 and which also holds a national lottery tender in Morocco, another Muslim-majority country.
In the years since the acquisition, Turkey has proven a valuable market for Flutter. For example, the company’s Q1 financial report, published last week, showed 62% growth in Turkish revenue, attributed to rising interest in online betting and gaming.
As in other nations, regardless of religious demographics, illegal gambling is also widespread in Turkey, and has been catching the government’s attention. Curbing illegal gaming was cited as one of the motivations behind the Turkish government’s ban on encrypted social media platform Telegram last year, for example.
In Afghanistan, given the Taliban’s historically strict interpretation and implementation of Sharia law, both during its two tenures in government (1996–2001 and 2021-present) and during its time as an insurgency (2001–2021), its clampdown on anything gambling-related is unsurprising.
Some Afghans who spoke to AFP who had organised and/or witnessed informal chess tournaments asserted that they had no knowledge nor had seen evidence of gambling taking place. However, it will likely take a lot of effort to persuade the government of chess’ moral integrity before the suspension is reversed.
The ban on chess continues a general clampdown on sport seen in Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Women’s sports have suffered in particular, being banned entirely, while MMA was also banned last year due to the government viewing the sport as too violent and incompatible with its interpretation of Islamic law.
