Muhammad Ali himself went to Kabul in 2002 as a UN Peace Ambassador (Photo: AFP).
The ex-wife of the great American boxer Muhammad Ali reportedly arrived to open a stadium in a country (Afghanistan) where women are banned from sports.
According to the French news agency AFP, Ahmadullah Wasiq, head of the Taliban government’s sports directorate, said that Khalila Camacho Ali, who was Muhammad Ali’s wife for a decade since 1967, had arrived in Kabul.
State media quoted the directorate as saying she was in Kabul to build a sports stadium in the city named ‘Pirozi’ (Victory in the River) and a sports association named after Muhammad Ali.
Like her ex-husband, Khalila Camacho Ali converted to Islam after marriage.
Muhammad Ali himself visited Kabul in 2002 as a UN peace envoy and visited a girls’ school, a year after US forces overthrew the first Taliban government.
Since the Taliban government came to power in Afghanistan in 2021, they have imposed strict Islamic laws, including a ban on women participating in sports.
During the first Taliban regime from 1996 to 2001, public executions in sports arenas were common.
Since his return to power, public executions have continued and at least two executions have been carried out in stadiums.
Authorities have also recently banned combat sports, saying fighting in mixed martial arts is un-Islamic.
Khalila Camacho Ali is a martial artist as well as an actress and writer.
Muhammad Ali was born to Cassius Clay in the southeastern state of Kentucky and is known for his role as a great athlete and in fighting for the civil rights of African Americans. He died in 2016.
