Afghan Sports News

Today, as a result of their recent successes, the head of Afghanistan's Cricket Federation, Allah Daad Noori, told the British based news service, Reuters, that the International Cricket Council (ICC) has pledged to give Afghanistan's cricket team between five to six hundred thousand dollars for the coming five years. The ICC is the international governing body for cricket. Afghanistan went undefeated in two World Cup qualifying tournaments this year, the second of which was the ICC World Cricket League Division 4 in Tanzania, where they secured a place in the Division 3 competition in Argentina in January 2009.

Afghanistan defeated Hong Kong today and got their fifth consecutive win in the World Cricket League Division Four games. Hong Kong is now 4 and 1. The top two finishers of this division will move on to a six-team World Cricket League Division 3 in Argentina in January 2009. After that, the top two teams will join 10 more countries in the United Arab Emirates to play off for four berths in the 2011 World Cup. The World Cup will be jointly hosted by Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka. Allah Daad Noori, Afghanistan's Cricket Federation President has been very supportive of the team. After their win over Fiji on October 5th, he called the team to congratulate them and give each player $200 US.

Grab a newspaper or browse through your favorite international news web site and you will find plenty of bad news coming from Afghanistan. On any given day, you will find news about bombings, abductions, and abuse of women and children. Luckily, not all the news coming out of Afghanistan is bad, especially when it comes to sports news. Read More.

Afghanistan's five member Paralympics delegation left for China today in order to participate in the 2008 Beijing Paralympics games.  The Paralympics are elite sport events for athletes from six different disability groups. The Paralympics are usually held after the Olympics and so this year, it will be from September 6th to September 15th. The Paralympic Games are governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). The official sponsor of this year's Afghan Paralympics delegation is the Alokozay Foundation.

Rohullah Nikpai, the first Afghan to win a medal in the Olympic games was given a red carpet welcome today (August 28, 2008). Nikpai was greeted at the airport by vice president Karim Khalili. He was then driven from the airport to Afghanistan's national stadium in Kabul where he was greeted by a crowd of 5,000 cheering fans. The crowd chanted slogans such as "Nikpai, the pride of Afghanistan", and "Long live Afghanistan". Vice president Khalili stated that "it is a matter of pride for all of us, for the government and the people of Afghanistan that this war-ravaged country was able to win a medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games". The event was even broadcasted on state television. After winning his medal, Nikpai stated: "I hope this medal can be a message of peace in Afghanistan".

Twenty one year old Rohullah Nikpai made history today by winning Afghanistan's first Olympic medal. He defeated world champion Juan Antonio Ramos of Spain to take the bronze in the men's under 58-kilogram taekwondo competition. Nikpai even got a call from President Hamid Karzai. According to the president's spokesman, Humayun Hamidzada, President Karzai awarded Nikpai a house at the government's expense. Also, the Associated Press reported today that: "Ehsanullah Bayat, chairman of the Afghan Wireless Communication Company, earlier announced that he would award any Afghan athlete who won an Olympic bronze $10,000, along with $50,000 for a gold medal and $25,000 for a silver, said Khalid Andisha, a spokesman for AWCC."

August 16, 2008: Kabul-Jalalabad cycle race

Pajhwok Afghan News (PAN) reported on Friday, August 15th that Afghanistan's first-ever Kabul-Jalalabad cycle race (also known as the Ghazi Amanullah Khan Cycle Race) began.  An official of Afghanistan's Olympic Committee said that the race will be 147 kilometers, and that it would begin from the Istiqlal monument in the Pul-i-Mahmud Khan area of Kabul and end in the capital of Nangarhar province (Jalalabad). Etisalat, one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world is the sponsor of the event.  Around 150 cyclists are taking part in the race.