Claim: Afghan Taliban’s General Mobin said the national cricket team would not be permitted to play if they support the tri-coloured Afghan National Flag.
Fact: General Mobeen did say the Afghan team would not be allowed to play if they kept sporting the Afghan national flag however, he has issued a statement on it saying it was “his personal opinion”
According to this report by Facebook page Yaraan, General Mobin of the Afghan Taliban condemned the use of the tri-coloured Afghan national flag by the National Cricket team of Afghanistan in a match against Scotland during the ongoing T20 Cricket World Cup.
In audio shared in the post, the general can be heard saying that “we have seized power (in Afghanistan) by force hence we have no regard or respect for anyone’s views and opinions. If the players of the (Afghan) cricket team support the Flag of Afghanistan, we will not allow them to set foot in a stadium again.” Mobin also said that upon the return of the team to Kabul, he will personally go to the runway with the white flag of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and make the players kiss it after which they shall be allowed to get off the plane, the report states.
According to data acquired from CrowdTangle, the viral post has gotten 75 thousand interactions with above 800,000 views, 5.5 thousand comments and 6.7 thousand shares.
During a TV interview, Mobin has accepted that it was, indeed, his voice but added that it was from a private conversation with a person who had recorded it and put it on the internet after which the audio had gone viral.
He added in this interview that the view presented in the audio was his personal and did not represent that of the Islamic Emirate. “The decision over the national flag will be taken by the Afghan nation and the government in Afghanistan.” He also declared the cricketers as the national heroes of Afghanistan and regretted his words.
Conclusion: Afghan Talib General Mobin did threaten the Afghan cricket players by saying that they will never set foot in a stadium again if they continued to support the Afghan national flag (instead of that of the Islamic Emirate). However, he has stated that the audio was from a private conversation and not for public consumption. Mobin has regretted his words in the audio in a TV talk show.