South Africa’s sports minister joins calls for Afghanistan cricket boycott

Gayton McKenzie, the country’s sports minister, joins British politicians in calling on England to boycott Afghanistan at the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan. He adds that he supports calls for a boycott of the South African country.

In a statement released on Thursday, he said, “Cricket South Africa, the federations of other countries, and the ICC (International Cricket Council) will have to consider the message the sport of cricket wishes to send the world, especially the women in sports.”

“It is not my responsibility as the sports minister to decide in my favor whether South Africa should play cricket against Afghanistan.” If it was my decision, then it certainly would not happen”.

In response to the Taliban government’s crackdown on women’s rights since coming to power in August 2021, England and South Africa are under pressure to boycott the games. They are also under pressure to do the same in the one-day international (ODI) competition.

South Africa’s Champions Trophy campaign is scheduled to debut against Afghanistan on February 21 in Karachi, but McKenzie pressed the cricket governing body to cancel the event.

It would be hypocritical and immoral to look the other way today when the same is being done to women everywhere, he added as a man who is a member of a race that was denied equal access to sporting opportunities during Apartheid.

More than 160 British politicians have written to the England and Wales Cricket Board to request a boycott of England’s February 26 game against Afghanistan in Lahore.

In response, ECB CEO Richard Gould demanded a unified strategy for all member states regarding Afghanistan’s participation in international cricket.

The other team, which is scheduled to travel to Afghanistan on February 28 in Lahore, is Australia.

In March, Cricket Australia indefinitely postponed a bilateral men’s Twenty 20 game against Afghanistan because of “deteriorating human rights for women and girls in the country under Taliban rule,” but they did play them at the World Cup in India in late 2023 and the T20 World Cup in June.

After being accused of being hypocritical, Cricket Australia chairman Mike Baird last month declared he was “very proud of the position we’ve taken.”