Politicians urge ECB to boycott England’s Champions Trophy game with Afghanistan
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England are due to face Afghanistan at the Champions Trophy in Pakistan in February. 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 the likes of Nigel Farage, Jeremy Corbyn and Lord Kinnock.
![[Jeremy Corbyn (left) and Nigel Farage are united on the issue]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/03/04/17/CorbynFarage%20split.jpg)
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 assault on women’s rights. Female participation in sport has effectively been outlawed since their return to power in 2021, a move that puts the Afghanistan Cricket Board in direct contravention of the International Cricket Council’s rules.
![[England were beaten by Afghanistan at the 2023 Cricket World Cup]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2023/10/16/14/15-d92c88610b514438ba58865800285a6a.jpg)
With Afghanistan’s men still allowed to compete by the ICC, a strongly-worded letter has emerged from parliament pleading for the ECB to make its own moral objection. Penned by Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi and signed by a wide cross-party group from the House of Commons and House of Lords, it raises the “insidious dystopia” unfolding in Afghanistan.
The statement, addressed to 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.
