South Africa’s sports minister joins calls for a cricket boycott in Afghanistan | Cricket news
McKenzie is calling on his country’s cricket governing body to disrespect the Champions Trophy match against Afghanistan on February 21.
South African Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie has backed calls for a boycott of Afghanistan at the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan, adding his voice to those of British politicians who called England not play the South Asian nation in the tournament next month.
“Cricket South Africa, other national federations and the ICC (International Cricket Council) will need to think carefully about the message that cricket wants to send to the world, and in particular to women in sport,” he said in a statement on Thursday.
“It is not for me as the sports minister to make the final decision on whether South Africa should honor the cricket match against Afghanistan. If it was my decision, then it certainly wouldn’t have happened.”
England and South Africa share the same group with Afghanistan in the one-day international (ODI) competition and are under pressure to boycott the matches in response to the Taliban government’s crackdown on women’s rights since returning to power in August 2021.
South Africa are due to open their Champions Trophy schedule against Afghanistan in Karachi on February 21, but McKenzie has called on his country’s cricket governing body not to honor the match.
“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 to women anywhere in the world,” he added.
More than 160 British politicians have signed a cross-party letter to the England and Wales Cricket Board, calling for a boycott of England’s match against Afghanistan in Lahore on 26 February.
ECB chief executive Richard Gould responded by calling for a unified approach by all member countries to Afghanistan’s participation in international cricket.
Australia is the other team scheduled to play Afghanistan, in Lahore on February 28.
Cricket Australia indefinitely postponed the bilateral men’s Twenty 20 series against Afghanistan last March citing “deteriorating human rights for women and girls in the country under Taliban rule”, but they played it at the World Cup in India at the end of 2023 and the World Cup T20 last June.
Cricket Australia president Mike Baird said last month he was “very proud of the stance we took” after they were accused of hypocrisy.
“We’ve taken a stand and we’re standing proudly where we think we need to be,” he said.
