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Scotland Halts Afghanistan Cricket Over Women’s RightsSports
Cricket Scotland will play Afghanistan only at ICC events, joining Australia and England in a stand over the treatment of women and girls under Taliban rule.
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Scotland has drawn a clear line in cricket. The country’s governing body says it will no longer arrange matches against Afghanistan outside tournaments run by the International Cricket Council, pointing to the treatment of women and girls under Taliban rule and the wider human rights situation in the country.
The decision, announced on Monday, puts Cricket Scotland alongside Cricket Australia and the England and Wales Cricket Board, both of which have already refused bilateral fixtures against Afghanistan. Afghanistan became a full member of the ICC in 2017, but its men’s team has played almost no bilateral cricket against these boards in recent years.
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Women’s sport has all but vanished in Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Girls and women have seen their access to education and work sharply restricted, and female athletes have largely been forced out of public sporting life altogether.
Cricket Scotland said its stance flowed from its commitment to growing the women’s and girls’ game, as well as concern about the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. It said the policy would be reviewed every year, or sooner if the ICC took a significant decision or circumstances changed materially.
The Taliban say they respect women’s rights in line with their interpretation of Islamic law and local custom, and that such matters are for Afghans to settle at home. Reuters said it had contacted the Afghanistan Cricket Board for comment.
The two sides have not met in a full international match since the 2021 Twenty20 World Cup. Even so, the Afghan board has kept knocking on Scotland’s door: it asked to use training facilities in July, before a men’s series against Ireland, and made a further request in September connected to the T20 Afghanistan Premier League.
Cricket Scotland said it would still weigh its contractual duties to players and would consider issuing no-objection certificates if the ICC formally approved the Afghan league. It added that any such certificate should not be read as support for the current Afghan government or its policies.
The move is the latest sign of how far sport and politics have become entangled around Afghanistan. For Scotland, a smaller cricket nation, it is a statement of principle that costs little in fixtures — the teams rarely meet — but carries weight as part of a growing group of boards unwilling to play Afghanistan outside the world game’s showpiece events.
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