I don't think the ban had anything to do with genuine care for society or the participants. It was virtue signaling to a Muslim political base by a government,

I don't think the ban had anything to do with genuine care for society or the participants. It was virtue signaling to a Muslim political base by a government, selling the idea that their government and by extension their society is morally intact, regardless of the reality on the ground. It's very similar to how exercise infomercials work -- you sell people the ideal of how they already want to view themselves, not the product itself. And quite reliably, people buy it.