South Africa sports minister calls for Afghanistan boycott

South Africa's sports minister has called on the country's national men's team not to play against Afghanistan at next month's Champions Trophy in Pakistan for them to "take a firm stand in solidarity with the women" of the troubled Asian country.

Public support for a boycott was "a position that I feel morally bound to support, despite the deep complications of Afghanistan's recent and tragic history", Gayton McKenzie was quoted as saying in a statement.

"I am aware that the ICC, like most international sporting mother bodies, professes not to tolerate political interference in the administration of sport, despite its obvious inconsistency with Afghanistan.

"It is not for me as the sports minister to make the final decision on whether South Africa should honour cricketing fixtures against Afghanistan. If it was my decision, then it certainly would not happen.

"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."

On Wednesday, an open letter by Peter Hain, a South African-born anti-apartheid activist who became a UK cabinet minister and now sits in the House of Lords, that was addressed to CSA chief executive Pholetsi Moseki was published by Daily Maverick, a leading South African website.

"Sport was only the first joy to be removed from women in Afghanistan, and since then the Taliban have removed their most basic human rights and freedoms on a prolific scale," Hain wrote.

"Women are denied access to schools and universities, have been barred from most forms of employment and have now been denied all healthcare, as they can no longer train as nurses or be treated by male medics. They are banned from beauty salons, stadiums, gyms and parks, cannot travel alone without a male chaperone, dance, sing or drive. Their faces are banned from view, their voices from being heard, even in prayer. Most recently, the Taliban has banned windows through which women might be glimpsed in their domestic spaces.

"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?"

A CSA statement on Thursday said the organisation found "the treatment and suppression of women's rights in Afghanistan abhorrent and firmly believes that women's cricket deserves equal recognition and resources, an area in which CSA's record on women's cricket in South Africa speaks for itself.

"As the Champions Trophy is an ICC event, the position on Afghanistan must be guided by the world body in accordance with international tournament participation requirements and regulations."

The statement quoted CSA president Rihan Richards as saying: "We are of the view that a more unified and collective approach from all ICC members will be more impactful. CSA is committed and will continue to engage in constructive dialogue with the ICC and other members to find a solution that upholds women's cricket in Afghanistan and influences meaningful change in that country."

Women and girls have been sidelined from public life since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, which earned the South Africans criticism ahead of their ODI series against the Afghans in Sharjah in September last year. Notably, McKenzie, who was in his current position at the time, said nothing.

But Lawyers for Human Rights, a non-governmental organisation who have been fighting oppression since 1979 - the deepest, darkest days of apartheid - said in a statement: "South Africa's decision to continue playing against the Afghanistan national cricket team is not just a sporting choice - it is a tacit endorsement of the Taliban's repressive regime."

CSA responded then by saying they would "[continue] their engagement with the Afghanistan Cricket Board, despite the challenging environment posed by the Taliban regime. Gender advocacy in cricket should never be advanced by meting out punishment on innocent cricket administrators and players for the misdemeanours of a regime that stands to lose nothing from that punishment.... As such, CSA believes there is no justification for subjecting Afghan cricket players - both male and female - to secondary persecution for the actions of the Taliban."

McKenzie's statement coincided with the start of the SA20, which features seven Afghan players. At a press conference in Cape Town on Wednesday, one of them, Rashid Khan, said: "Since our players have been playing in the [T20] leagues, Afghanistan cricket has benefitted. We got to the semi-finals of the [2024] T20 World Cup. Ten years before that, I don't think anybody would have thought Afghanistan would get to the semi-finals.

"We don't have our own league where we can go and play with superstars. But here you get the opportunity. You share a dressingroom with them for a month and you learn from them. That's how your cricket grows. And I feel that has really helped Afghanistan cricket."

McKenzie's view follows urging by more than 160 UK politicians - including figures as disparate as the left-wing Jeremy Corbyn and the right-wing Nigel Farrage - for England to boycott their Champions Trophy match against Afghanistan in Lahore on February 26.

Australia have a policy of not fulfilling bilateral fixtures against Afghanistan while continuing to play them in tournaments. The teams are due to meet in Lahore on February 28.

South Africa are due to play Afghanistan in their opening match of the Champions Trophy in Karachi on February 21.