ECB urged to boycott Afghanistan game in Champions Trophy by UK politicians
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The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has been urged to boycott next month’s Champions Trophy match against Afghanistan by a group of more than 160 politicians, including Nigel Farage, Jeremy Corbyn and Lord Kinnock. The England men’s ODI side are due to face Afghanistan in Lahore on 26 February but there are calls from Westminster for the ECB to refuse the fixture, taking a stand against the Taliban regime’s ongoing assault on women’s rights.
![[Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/b91caac94fca8330dae6258084c0e59a12b6035f/0_233_3500_2100/master/3500.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Female participation in sport has effectively been outlawed since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, a move that puts the Afghanistan Cricket Board in direct contravention of International Cricket Council (ICC) rules, which require full members to organise a women’s national team.
With Afghanistan’s men’s team still allowed to compete by the ICC despite the women’s side being disbanded in 2021, a strongly-worded letter has emerged from parliament pleading for the ECB to make its own moral objection. Penned by the Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi and signed by a wide cross-party group from the House of Commons and House of Lords, it raises concerns over the “insidious dystopia” and “sex apartheid” unfolding in Afghanistan.
The statement, addressed to the ECB chief executive, Richard Gould, concludes: “We strongly urge the England men’s team players and officials to speak out against the horrific treatment of women and girls in Afghanistan under the Taliban. “We also urge the ECB to consider a boycott of the upcoming match against Afghanistan ... to send a clear signal that such grotesque abuses will not be tolerated. We must stand against sex apartheid and we implore the ECB to deliver a firm message of solidarity and hope to Afghan women and girls that their suffering has not been overlooked.”.
