Cricket South Africa has stated that it will not condemn the Afghanistan men’s squad for the Taliban’s acts in their own nation and will still play Afghanistan in bilateral matches.
The CSA released a statement in response to harsh criticism, which came from groups like Lawyers for Human Rights, which demanded that CSA boycott Afghanistan and claimed that by playing Afghanistan, South Africa was essentially backing a dictatorial government. The South African government has expressed serious concern over the Taliban regime’s restriction on women participating in sports and in most other sectors of public life, but it has refrained from calling for direct sanctions. CSA has adopted a comparable strategy.
CSA confirmed in a statement issued on Thursday, that although it believes “women’s cricket deserves equal recognition and success,” it would not unilaterally isolate the Afghanistan men’s team for its country’s government policy.
“CSA remains mindful that gender equity should never come at the expense of one gender over another,” the statement said. “We recognize that advocating for the advancement of one gender should not undermine the rights of the other. CSA believes there is no justification for subjecting Afghan cricket players – both male and female – to secondary persecution for the actions of the Taliban. We will continue to engage with member countries within the formal structures of the International Cricket Council (ICC) to address this matter.”
The ICC, which is hesitant to forbid Afghanistan despite being the only Full Member without a women’s team, shares the same views as the CSA. It is recognized that one of the challenges in compelling the ACB to field a women’s squad is the possible risk of retaliation from the Taliban, which might endanger the lives of those women.
Contrarily, Cricket Australia has adopted a different stance and, acting on government advice, has declined to play Afghanistan bilaterally in protest of violations of human rights. CSA thinks a broad approach to the problem is preferable and does not think this strategy will work. “Gender advocacy in cricket should never be advanced by meting out punishment on innocent cricket administrators and players for the misdemeanors of a regime that stands to lose nothing from that punishment,” the statement read.
In the United Arab Emirates, South Africa and Afghanistan are presently engaged in a three-match ODI series. Friday and Sunday, respectively, are the scheduled dates for the second and third ODIs. The CSA and the ACB requested this three-match, which was not included in the initial Future Tours Programme (FTP), in order to get ready for the Champions Trophy the following year.
