Afghanistan's playing season runs from May to September. There are 320 cricket clubs and 6 turf wickets in Afghanistan.[18] 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.[19][20] In May 2017 however, the ICC recognised the 50-over Ghazi Amanullah Khan Regional One Day Tournament by granting it List A status.[21]
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.[22][23] The national stadium, which was built during the reign of KingAmanullah 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.[24]
Mixed martial arts
Afghans have taken a recent interest in mixed martial arts (MMA).[25][26][27][28][29][30] There are several gyms in Afghanistan which promote the sport and have fighters. Siyar Bahadurzada is an Afghan MMA fighter 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. Other popular Afghan MMA fighters are Baz Mohammad and Mubariz.[31][32][33][34]
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.[43]
Stadiums and gymnasiums
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 then-President of the Afghanistan Cricket Board, Omar Zakhilwal, announced in 2010 that the government was planning to construct standard cricket grounds in all 34 provinces in the next two years.[44][45][46][47][48]
The following are some of the major stadiums in Afghanistan:
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