Peter Hain urges South Africa to boycott Afghanistan game at Champions Trophy The veteran anti-apartheid campaigner Peter Hain has called on Cricket South Africa to challenge the ban on women’s and girl’s cricket in Afghanistan before next month’s Champions Trophy.
Hain, who rose to national prominence by challenging the South African rugby and cricket tours during the early 70s, also reminds Moseki that female participation in sport has been outlawed since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021 – a decision that puts the Afghanistan Cricket Board in direct contravention of ICC rules, which require full members to organise and support a women’s national team.
In a letter seen by the Guardian, Lord Hain urges the Cricket South Africa’s chief executive, Pholetsi Moseki, to take up the issue with the International Cricket Council before South Africa’s Champions Trophy match against Afghanistan in Karachi.
“Having struggled long and hard for black and brown cricketers to represent their country like whites did exclusively for nearly a century, I hope that post-apartheid South African cricket will press for similar rights for all women in world cricket,” Hain tells Moseki.
“Will South African cricket please raise the plight of Afghan women cricketers in the ICC and express firm solidarity with Afghan women and girls who wish to play?”.
