Champions Trophy 2025: Why Prominent Anti-Apartheid Activist Urges South Africa To Boycott Afghanistan Match

The call to boycott Afghanistan’s men’s cricket team in the 2025 Champions Trophy has picked up momentum after figures from different strata of society have raised their voices in protest. After 160 UK politicians and an Olympian made a plea to the ECB to boycott Afghanistan’s participation, veteran anti-apartheid campaigner Peter Hain now adds his voice to the growing protest.

Who Is Peter Hain?

Hain has appealed to South Africa to raise the issue of the Taliban’s ban on women’s cricket with the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Hain is a well-known anti-apartheid campaigner who protested against South Africa’s apartheid regime’s rugby and cricket teams for not admitting non-whites during the 1970s. He has said the treatment meted out to women by the Taliban is worse than the apartheid regime in South Africa. His plea is against Afghanistan’s participation in the international cricket tournament Champions Trophy to be held in 2025.

Peter Hain’s Plea To South Africa

Peter Hain’s appeal, addressed to Cricket South Africa CEO Pholetsi Moseki, is for the governing body of the country to use their platform to protest against the Taliban’s discriminatory policies. In his message, Hain draws a powerful parallel between the struggle for racial equality in South African cricket during apartheid and the ongoing battle for gender equality in Afghanistan’s cricket scene.

Hain wrote, “Having struggled long and hard for black and brown cricketers to represent their country like whites did exclusively for nearly a century, I hope that post-apartheid South African cricket will press for similar rights for all women in world cricket.” He further urges South Africa to take a stand for Afghan women cricketers, stating, “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?”

His message is a strong call for the global cricket community to unite against the Taliban’s oppressive actions and show solidarity with the women athletes who have been denied the right to compete.

Taliban’s Ban On Women’s Cricket

The Taliban retook power in Afghanistan in 2021. Among the regime’s first set of restrictions were a blanket bans on women competing in all sporting activities, even cricket. In response, the national women’s cricket team of Afghanistan was disbanded, and players were forced to flee the country. Peter Hain’s letter highlights these grave actions, reminding Cricket South Africa of the direct violation of ICC regulations.

According to the ICC, all member Test nations are required to support and fund women’s cricket, which Afghanistan has not done due to the Taliban’s ban. “Upon regaining control of Afghanistan in August 2021, one of the Taliban government’s first acts was to ban women from sport,” Hain writes.

The national Afghan women’s cricket team was disbanded and forced to flee the country; it is now in exile.”

This situation puts into question how Afghanistan will represent the world in its international tournaments where the women cannot play the sport.

South Africa Possible Position on Afghan Involvement South Africa has scheduled a game with Afghanistan at the Champions Trophy 2025 and the match between them is going to be held on February 21 in Karachi. Although Cricket South Africa has not yet issued a statement on the issue, Hain’s letter appeals to them to raise the plight of Afghan women cricketers at the ICC.

The whole world is now focusing on the issue, and people are asking whether South Africa will stand up against Afghanistan’s participation in the wake of the Taliban’s actions. However, it is different from the ECB which has already reacted. Even when prominent political figures from the opposition and Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi wrote to ECB to boycott the Afghanistan team for their country, it still didn’t comply with it. The Chief Executive Officer of ECB, Richard Gould, stated that the matter demands an approach to be done as a whole and not each and every country itself.

Gould emphasized that the ECB has always condemned the Taliban’s treatment of women but believes collective action through the ICC would be more impactful.

What Is ICC’s Response?

Despite the mounting pressure, it is reported that the ICC, with Jay Shah as its head, will not act against the Afghanistan Cricket Board and its men’s team immediately. The governing body reportedly believes that the Afghanistan Cricket Board is following the Taliban’s directives and cannot revive women’s cricket in the country on their own.

This decision has caused an uproar in the cricketing world among the women’s rights advocates, as many are urging the ICC to follow its constitution. The UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office echoed the same feeling, urging the ICC to implement its constitution that states all its member countries must provide support to both men’s and women’s cricket teams.

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