South Africa’s Sports Minister Backs Calls to Boycott Afghanistan Cricket
South Africa’s Sports Minister Backs Calls to Boycott Afghanistan Cricket
South Africa’s Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie has backed calls for a boycott of Afghanistan at the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan. He joins British politicians who have urged England not to play the South Asian nation at the tournament next month.
“Cricket South Africa, the federations of other countries, and the ICC (International Cricket Council) need to think carefully about what message cricket wants to send to the world, especially to women in sports,” he said in a statement on Thursday.
As the sports minister, I am not responsible for deciding whether South Africa should honor cricket fixtures against Afghanistan. If I were to make that decision, it would certainly not happen.
England and South Africa are in the same group as Afghanistan in a one-day international competition. They feel compelled not to play the matches because of the Taliban government’s actions against women’s rights since coming back to power in August 2021.
South Africa will begin their Champions Trophy matches against Afghanistan in Karachi on February 21, but McKenzie asked his country’s cricket board not to keep the match.
As a man who comes from a race that was not allowed equal access to sporting opportunities during Apartheid, it would be hypocritical and immoral to look the other way today when the same is being done towards women anywhere in the world,” he said.
More than 160 members of British politics from various parties signed a letter to the ECB requesting that its national team boycott the match between England and Afghanistan in Lahore on February 26. ECB Chief Executive Richard Gould reacted by demanding that all of its member countries treat Afghanistan equally when hosting international cricket there. Australia is the second team scheduled for the match in Lahore on the 28th.
Cricket Australia postponed a men’s Twenty 20 series against Afghanistan last March. They said this was because of “deteriorating human rights for women and girls in the country under Taliban rule.” However, they did play against them at the World Cup in India in late 2023 and at the T20 World Cup last June.
Cricket Australia chairman Mike Baird last month said he was “very proud of the position we’ve taken” after they were accused of hypocrisy.
“We’ve taken a position, and we’re proudly standing up where we think we should,” he said.
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