Reports suggest that ISIS has banned referees in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor governorate after courts declared the rules of football “illegitimate” and “in violation of the commands of Allah”.
The Independent detail how militants told organisers that the officials had been banned because their decisions “do not judge according to what Allah has revealed” and are “a violation of Allah’s command and the Sunnah” before league matches in the group’s territory around Deir ez-Zor city.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR) said commanders had put together new rules based on Sharia law for how injured players can be compensated by their opponents.
A system of Qisas, a retributive justice system, is said to have been implemented so victims can claim compensation or even exact some sort of exact revenge.
In an unverified quote from SOHR, one player said:
We’re lucky because the football we play does not run using FIFA’s name – then the [ISIS] would have stopped games once and for all and not just refereeing.
Read more: independent.co.uk