ICC Champions Trophy: Afghanistan ban unlikely over absence of women’s team despite boycott calls | Cricket News
Despite growing calls from England, including from Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and South Africa to boycott Afghanistan for the Taliban’s continuous refusal to field a women’s cricket team as per International Cricket Council’s (ICC) regulations, the world body is unlikely to enforce any sanctions. The Indian Express understands that ICC, headed by former BCCI secretary Jay Shah, is of the view that the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) is merely following the orders of the Taliban regime which has been in power since 2021 and is powerless to act on its own to revive the women’s game in the country. But historically, the world body has not come in the way of teams forfeiting matches in a global tournament due to security or any other concerns. On Wednesday, after nearly 160 UK politicians wrote to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) urging them to boycott the group fixture against Afghanistan to be played in Lahore, Starmer called on the ICC to follow its own rules, which make it mandatory for any full member that fails …
