After threats to boycott the Cricket World Cup by the Australian federation, the chairman of the Afghan Cricket Council (ACB) said women could be allowed to play. A far cry from the intransigent stance of the Taliban on women and sport.
“I don’t think women will be allowed to play cricket because it is not necessary for women to play cricket,” deputy head of the Taliban Culture Commission, Ahmadullah Wasiq, told a report last Wednesday. Australian TV channel.
This announcement seems today contradicted by the president of the Afghan cricket council Azizullah Fazli. The latter told the same broadcaster that the organization will very soon give a clear position on how it will enable women to play cricket, before adding that the 25 members of the women’s team who remained in the country are safe.
And for good reason, the captain of the Australian team Tim Paine called, in protest, Friday, September 10, the teams to withdraw from the Men’s World Cup next month, or to boycott a match against Afghanistan if the Taliban prohibited women from playing cricket.
According to the rules of the International Cricket Council, every nation with a test country status – which is the case with Afghanistan – must have an active women’s team.
After urging Australia not to punish its men’s team because of the Taliban ban, the ACB, however, admitted to being “powerless to change the culture and religious environment” of the Islamic republic.
But Afghanistan’s position as a full member will be discussed at the next International Cricket Federation board meeting in November.