Afghanistan men’s cricket team is reaching new heights every other ICC tournament. There is still concern for the Afghanistan women’s cricket team which have been banned by the Taliban to play the sport ever since they took control in August 2021. Many of Afghanistan’s women’s cricket team members are in various parts of the world like Canada, Australia & other countries trying to make a case for themselves.
Recently in January several of those players united in an Afghanistan Women’s XI for an exhibition match against a Cricket Without Borders XI at Melbourne’s Junction Oval in January. ICC’s stance of not raising a voice against Afghanistan government is quite a mystery as the full member nations need to have both men’s & women’s cricket team which is in the constitution of ICC.
Human Rights Watch wants ICC to take action
In an email addressed to ICC chair Jay Shah dated February 3 and made public on March 7, Human Rights Watch wants ICC to implement human rights policy on UN Guiding Principles and Human Rights. The email also addressed that Afghanistan women need to again participate in education which as of now is forbidden.
“We are writing at this time to urge the International Cricket Council (ICC) to suspend Taliban-run Afghanistan from ICC membership, and from participating in international cricket, until women and girls can once again participate in education and sport in the country. We also urge the ICC to implement a human rights policy based on the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights,”
“We note that you have pledged ‘to allocate more resources to women’s cricket’ during your tenure at the helm of global cricket and ‘champion the ICC’s mission further by allocating more resources and attention to women’s cricket,'”
ICC tight-lipped on Afghanistan women’s cricket conundrum
The ex-chair Greg Barclay even in his interview clearly mentioned that canceling the membership of Afghanistan is not the solution where the board is not at fault. With so many rising superstars coming out of Afghanistan men’s cricket team and players getting lucrative franchise contracts, the men’s team is already a force to reckon with.
During the recently concluded ICC CT 2025, England’s parliament members called for boycotting the match against Afghanistan which the ECB refused. Australia hasn’t played a single bilateral series against Afghanistan nor has England and are firm on their stance.
Rashid Khan & Mohammad Nabi have raised their voices against the government and demanding women cricketers to get back on field again but nothing has changed. The problem which ICC might be facing is that they can’t go against the government as this is a very sensitive topic which has community and a thought process that they can’t change.
Ban on Women & girls participating in sport is a severe violation of Olympic- Human Right Watch
Human Rights Watch pointed out that since August 2021, the government has imposed a lot of restrictions on women. Human Rights Watch stated that with cricket set to be a part of Olympic 2028 Games, ICC needs to quickly solve the problem of Afghanistan women’s cricket team. The email also addressed that not having Afghanistan women’s cricket is against the anti-discriminatory policy.
“However, since retaking power in August 2021, the Taliban have imposed a long and growing list of rules and policies that bars women and girls from exercising their fundamental rights, including to freedom of expression and movement, many forms of employment, and education beyond sixth grade. These affect virtually all their rights, including to life, livelihood, shelter, health care, food, and water,”
“By not allowing women and girls to play cricket, and not allowing a national team for women and girls to compete internationally, the Afghanistan Cricket Board is failing to abide by this Anti-Discrimination Policy. We note that cricket has been included as a sport in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, and yet the Taliban’s ban on women and girls participating in the sport is a severe violation of the Olympic Charter’s guarantee that ‘the practice of sport is a human right’,”
“The International Cricket Council should follow in the steps of other sport governing bodies, such as the International Olympic Committee, by calling on the Taliban to include Afghan women and girls in sport, and committing to a human rights frame work,” email concluded.
What lies ahead for ICC
With ICC prioritizing women’s cricket having introduced the Champions Trophy and Tri Series. ICC chairman Jay Shah along with other board members need to find the middle ground for the Afghanistan women’s cricket team. In all this chaos, Afghanistan men’s cricket team’s reputation is also getting tarnished, no doubt they are a world-class team but in last 4 years, talks with board & ICC have got no fruitful outcomes for Afghanistamn women cricket.
It is often said sport & politics shouldn’t be mixed but we are forgetting that sport comes under politics. In the case of Afghanistan, it seems & we are witnessing massive influence of politics. With Human Rights Watch giving a warning to ICC, we have to see whether the governing body persuades ACB and the government or they ban Afghanistan cricket completely.