The unique Afghan and Central Asian game of buzkashi will be staged for the first time in the Middle East, an Afghan Embassy official in Abu Dhabi said yesterday. The Afghan Charge d'Affaires, Rashid D. Mohammedi, told Gulf News that preparations are under way to stage Afghanistan's national game buzkashi, which means goat grabbing, in Dubai.

The game involves a headless carcass placed in the centre of a circle and surrounded by the players of two opposing teams who try to get control and grab it to the scoring area.Mohammedi said the staging of the game in an open area has been approved by the authorities in Dubai.

"We are just waiting for the final permission of the government to bring the buzkashi horses from Afghanistan," the Afghan diplomat said, referring to the permission of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. Mohammedi said once permission is granted, 24 best selected horses will be flown to Dubai from Afghanistan in a special cargo plane.

"We will also fly in some of the famous buzkashi players, who are known as chaap andaz."

The diplomat said the game will be held outside Afghanistan and Central Asia for the first time. Apart from Afghanistan and some Central Asian countries, it is also played in the northern areas of Pakistan. In Pakistan it came from northern Afghanistan.

Mohammedi, who is a keen enthusiast of the game and a chaap andaz himself, said a dummy carcass made of plastic and textile materials will be used in the game in Dubai.

"We expect thousands of spectators to witness the game. According to my expectations it will be the largest entertaining event in the country, attracting spectators from abroad," said Mohammedi. "There will be a charity show for Afghan orphans, organised and funded by the business community in the region and in Afghanistan."

According to Mohammedi, the game has its roots in Genghis Khan's invasion of Afghanistan, when his army looted villages and towns."They were chased by Afghan horsemen to grab back their property, such as goats, looted by them. This is how, most probably, the game originated."

Many historians also believe that buzkashi began with the Turkic-Mongol people, and it is indigenously shared by the people of northern Afghanistan.

It is the roughest game in the world and needs extremely difficult training to become a good chaap andaz. The carcass traditionally used in the game is of a calf or a goat, weighing more than 50kg and soaked in water over night before the game.