England will not boycott the game against Afghanistan despite outrage over the Taliban's human rights (Image: Getty)
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Outraged MPs and human rights groups have spoken out after it was confirmed that England's cricket match against Afghanistan will go ahead on Wednesday – despite the Taliban's stance on women.
Pleas were made to boycott the match because of the rulers’ clampdown on female rights, with the Afghan women’s cricket team forced into exile.
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Labour MP Tonia Antonazzi's letter to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) protesting against the match gained more than 200 signatures across the political divide in the Commons and Lords.
But cricketing authorities rejected calls to axe the one-day international game in Lahore, Pakistan, even though international rules require men’s Test teams to have a women’s team.
Ms Antonazzi said: “With the Champions Trophy match going ahead between England and Afghanistan on Wednesday, I feel a profound sense of sadness and outrage.
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“It’s been over three years since the Afghan women’s cricket team have effectively been banned from playing cricket on the international stage, and their situation remains much the same from when they were initially forced to flee for their safety following Taliban raids and takeover in 2021.
"The women’s team have been ignored by those at the top of their respective sport who seem to have washed their hands with them.
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“As the international governing body for cricket, the International Cricket Council (ICC) have a responsibility to ensure that nations comply with their regulations, and to act when they do not.
“But act the ICC has not – in fact there has been a complete absence of any material action being taken by them to enforce their own rules regarding test nations funding and supporting a women’s side, and their relative silence on this issue is deafening.
“Afghan women’s erasure from cricket forms just one element of misogyny in the extreme under Taliban rule, where women find themselves in an insidious dystopia that is all too real.
“Obviously, sport cannot turn this around alone. But it can use the levers available to it to take a stand and exert pressure, as has been done previously with sporting boycotts and team suspensions at the international level.”
Felix Jakens, Amnesty UK’s head of campaigns, said: “Wednesday’s match can be a sport-lighting moment for human rights, instead of merely a sportswashing opportunity for the Taliban.
“As we know from numerous other sporting events around the world, countries with poor human rights records frequently attempt to harness the PR power of sport to improve their image – England’s cricketers should ensure this isn’t allowed to happen here.
“The ICC, the entire men’s England team – the star cricketers, head coach Brendon McCullum and all members of the England and Wales Cricket Board – need to be united in speaking out to condemn the horrors being inflicted on Afghanistan’s women and girls, who are experiencing the most extreme gender persecution – a crime against humanity.
“Afghanistan is simply the most oppressive place in the world for women and girls, where the most basic rights – to speak, go to school, get access to basic healthcare and even daylight are brutally denied.
“The least Wednesday’s teams can do is ensure the entirely subjugated women and girls of Afghanistan are on the minds of audiences around the world, and ensure the match doesn’t give the Taliban a free propaganda boost.”
In response to the mass letter, ECB chief executive Richard Gould said the governing body "is committed to finding a solution" that "upholds the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan".
"While there has not been a consensus on further international action within the ICC, the ECB will continue to actively advocate for such measures.
"A co-ordinated, ICC-wide approach would be significantly more impactful than unilateral actions by individual members."
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A spokesman for the ICC said: "The ICC remains closely engaged with the situation in Afghanistan and continues to collaborate with our members.
"We are committed to leveraging our influence constructively to support the Afghanistan Cricket Board in fostering cricket development and ensuring playing opportunities for both men and women in Afghanistan.
"The ICC has established an Afghanistan Cricket Task Force, chaired by deputy chairman Imran Khwaja, who will lead the ongoing dialogue on this matter."
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By Saqib Bhatti MP, Shadow Minister for Culture Media and Sport
The terrible fate of women and girls in Afghanistan is shameful. Since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021, women and girls’ rights has been systematically eroded.
They have been banned from parks, gyms, beauty salons, workplaces and even appearing in windows.
As an MP myself, I remember watching in horror at the tragic death of the former Afghan MP, Mursal Nabizada, was killed in Kabul in 2023 for standing up for the rights of women and girls.
Make no mistake. Women and girls are in Afghanistan are face some of the most inhumane and egregious circumstances anywhere in the world.
At the weekend we heard that a British couple, Peter and Barbie Reynolds, were arrested for apparently teaching parenting skills to mothers over the age of thirty.
It is appalling that British nationals are detained by the Taliban for simply teaching women and girls.
The Taliban’s regressive attitude to women is atrocious and should be condemned in the strongest possible terms.
Given our country’s legacy in Afghanistan, the terrible fate of women and girls should be on all our consciences. We must do what we can to stand up for women and girls in this war-torn country.
That is why I have been very clear that I am opposed to the International Cricket Council Cricket (ICC) match between England and Afghanistan taking place today.
I signed the letter, championed by Tonia Antoniazzi MP, and 160 Parliamentarians condemning the match.
Our countries are united by our love of cricket; boycotting the game would have sent a very clear message to the people of Afghanistan: if they want to have the privilege of playing international cricket, they must treat women and girls with dignity.
But the ICC have failed to cancel this game, they aren’t enforcing their rules which make very clear that there should be men’s and women’s teams, which in Afghanistan would currently be simply impossible.
What message does this send to women and girls in Afghanistan?
Women and girls in Afghanistan face a long hard battle to be treated equally.
The UK must do all it can to ensure they are.
This will no doubt start with the Government, but they should urge bodies like the ICC to follow suit and stand up to the tragic and horrific suppression of women and girls.