Afghanistan has competed in the Asian Games since the inaugural edition of the Games in 1951 in
New Delhi. On 26 September 1996, the
Taliban took over Kabul and established the
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Under the Taliban regime all types of
sporting activities were deprecated, as according to the Taliban, most of them were against the teachings of
Islam and
Islamic law. Many stadiums, like
Ghazi Stadium of Kabul, were either destroyed or converted into venues for public executions and punishments. Women were banned from taking part in any type of sport; male athletes were allowed to participate in a few sports, but were forced to wear long sleeves, trousers and beards. Following such incidents and
discrimination against women, the
International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned the Afghanistan National Olympic Committee and barred them from taking part in the
Olympic Games. A few months before the
2000 Summer Olympics, the IOC offered the Afghanistan National Olympic Committee the opportunity to send a contingent to the Games without the Taliban flag. The Committee declined to take part on this condition. Afghanistan returned to the Asian Games after the
fall of the Taliban government in the midst of an
ongoing war. In June 2003, the IOC lifted the suspension imposed on Afghanistan during the 115th IOC Session in
Prague. Afghanistan status unclear for the future participation since brought under the
political turmoil. In
2022 Asian Games, Afghanistan participated with 68 male and 15 female athletes. All 83 athletes competed under the flag and anthem of the
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
Medals by games ==Asian Winter Games==