South Africa’s Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie has joined the growing backlash against Afghanistan’s participation in next month’s ICC Champions Trophy, comparing the Taliban regime’s treatment of women in the country to apartheid and saying it would be “hypocritical and immoral to look the other way.”
McKenzie’s intervention comes as South Africa take on Afghanistan in their opening match of the tournament in Karachi on February 21, and follows similar political pressure on fellow Group B participants England. Earlier this week, a group of 160 British politicians called on the ECB to boycott their match against Afghanistan in Lahore on February 26.
“If it were my decision, then it certainly wouldn’t happen,” McKenzie said in a statement from South Africa’s Ministry of Sports, Arts and Culture. “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 done to women anywhere in the world.”
His intervention comes after Peter Hain, the renowned anti-apartheid campaigner and former British government minister, wrote to cricket South Africa to express his own concerns about the ban on women’s and girls’ cricket in Afghanistan, which has effectively been in place since the return of the Taliban. to power in 2021.
In a subsequent statement, CSA acknowledged receipt of Hain’s letter, but echoed the response offered by the ECB, stating that, as the Champions Trophy is an ICC event, “the position on Afghanistan must be guided by the world body in accordance with the international tournament”. participation requirements and regulations”.
However, an ICC spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo that the Afghanistan cricket Board cannot be held responsible for policies set by its national government.
“The ICC will not penalize the ACB or its players for respecting the laws set by their country’s government. We will continue to constructively use our influence to help the ACB develop cricket and playing opportunities for both men and women. women in Afghanistan.”
Both the ECB and cricket Australia, which complete the four-team Champions Trophy Group B, have refused to involve Afghanistan in bilateral competitions, with Australia indefinitely postponing a T20 series that was scheduled for last March.
