Somalian World Cup Ban Leaves Citizens Scurrying For Furtive Feeds

Under the grip of an oppressive Muslim militant group that has issued bans on such mundane things as mustaches, dancing and celebrating religious holidays, soccer fans in Somalia are also left facing a similar such moratorium on watching soccer. During the 2006 World Cup, in fact, a violent campaign was launched against the country's soccer fans.

Most citizens don't have the means to defend themselves against the militants and the government is too busy trying to ensure that it isn't overthrown by them. This leaves many soccer fans desperate to savor Africa's first World Cup to search for clandestine options.

The militia group al-Shabaab, which controls most of south and central Somalia, has declared the World Cup un-Islamic and banned watching the games on television. By al-Shabaab's logic, the World Cup interferes with the militant group's "jihad," to overthrow the government, because young Somalis are too busy watching the games to fight on their behalf. While the group hasn't yet laid out specific consequences for those defying the ban, the militants have been known to behead or amputate limbs of people who oppose them.

Some of the wealthier Somalians can hire electricians to rig up a satellite feed, but are taking an obvious risk in doing so. The Dhamuke Cinema in a government-run section of Mogadishu remains one of the few remaining safe venues to watch games in public, as most other cinemas in the country have been destroyed or don't show games because of militant intimidation.

Those unable to make private arrangements or get to Dhamuke rely on radio transmissions, which quizzically are not banned by al-Shabaab, or score updates at Internet cafes. While much of Africa can glory in today's beginning of the World Cup, for some it still feels like a very faraway thing.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.