International cricket bosses resisting calls to prohibit Afghanistan from Champions Trophy, Sky News lobtains | World News

World cricket bosses have no set ups to prohibit Afghanistan’s men from the Champions Trophy or to demand the Taliprohibit permit a women’s team to recurrent the country, Sky News has lobtained.

With the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) own policy requiring Test-carry outing nations to help women’s cricket, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is backing calls for the sport’s global regulateing body to “hand over on their own rules”.

Downing Street’s intervention on Tuesday trailed more than 160 MPs and peers asking the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to boycott their align aobtainst Afghanistan at the ICC’s 50-over tournament next month.

And those boycott calls were backed today by South Africa sports minister Gayton McKenzie with his country also scheduled to carry out Afghanistan in the same group as England.

But Cricket South Africa reacted by saying: “The position on Afghanistan must be directd by the world body in accordance with international tournament participation demandments and regulations.”

The worry is the ICC is permiting a bachieve of its own rules since women and girls have been prohibitned from sports since the Taliprohibit returned to power in 2021 and clamped down on rights, with female faces and bodies having to be covered.

But Sky News comprehfinishs the ICC intfinishs to try to ultimately sway the Taliprohibit to permit women’s cricket – using sport to hand over change – rather than penalising Afghanistan.

The ICC is understood to have adchooseed a see stateiveially that male carry outers should not be punished for the Afghanistan regulatement’s policies, believing its member association cannot regulate the Taliprohibit’s position.

The ICC huged Afghanistan as a filled member in 2017 despite not complying with its constitution by having a women’s cricket programme, and huging religious reasons in the Muslim nation.

But the Afghanistan Cricket Board did award central tights to 25 female carry outers in 2020 to create a team “adhering to the traditional Afghan and Islamic cherishs”.

With the Taliprohibit reobtaining regulate of the country in 2021 and redisjoineing the rights of women and girls, the reckond international women’s align never happened.

The ICC has an Afghanistan group examining the situation in an try to engage the country’s most famous sport to help a restoration of women’s rights.

An ICC spokesperson telderly Sky News: “The ICC remains shutly engaged with the situation in Afghanistan and evolves to collaborate with our members.

“We are promiseted to leveraging our sway erectively to help the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) in nurtureing cricket enhugement and ensuring carry outing opportunities for both men and women in Afghanistan.

“The ICC has established an Afghanistan Cricket Task Force, chaired by deputy chairman Mr Imran Khwaja, who will direct the ongoing dialogue on this matter.”

But the ICC, which made no official useable for intersee, has been criticised by Afghan women’s sports campaigners.

“I’m very disnominateed and I am very downcast as a woman of Afghanistan, as an athlete,” createer Afghanistan women’s football captain Khalida Popal telderly Sky News.

“The regulateing bodies are not shoprosperg directership. We are talking about more than three and half years about the situation of Afghanistan.

“But the regulateing bodies of sports, they have flunked. They have flunked to consent action. They have flunked to stand by their own policies and statutes.

“There has been a bdeficiency and white gfinisher prejudice in sport, and they have disseed the women of Afghanistan.”

FIFA, which is still permiting Afghanistan’s men to contend internationpartner, is also under presstateive to seek a restoration of women’s football having helped to evacuate carry outers in 2021 during the Taliprohibit consentover.

Other national associations have been prohibitned for regulatement intrudence in their running.

FIFA Plivent Gianni Infantino has pledged to “discover solutions” but shelp “political, social and religious contexts in contrastent parts of the world are sometimes beyond our ability to sway”.

FIFA’s position has swayd the approach of cricket bosses in resisting making demands and menaceening to punish Afghanistan.

But Ms Popal shelp: “We want them to stand with the women of Afghanistan – to produce a sturdy statement and sfinish a chooseimistic message to the women of Afghanistan – that sports will never hug prejudice and exclusion of half of the population.”

More from Sky News:
The struggle for identicality in Afghanistan
How Afghan women are dreaming huge
Taliprohibit prohibits women from national park

The England and Wales Cricket Board declines to organise any bitardyral men’s alignes aobtainst Afghanistan but wants a unicreate approach from all countries when it comes to a decision on whether to boycott ICC tournament alignes.

Both the ECB and Cricket South Africa condemned the Taliprohibit’s treatment of women and girls.

Mr McKenzie, who serves in South Africa’s regulatement, shelp: “It is not for me as the sports minister to produce the final decision on whether South Africa should honour cricketing mendtures aobtainst Afghanistan.

“If it was my decision, then it stateively would not happen.

“As a man who comes from a race that was not permited identical access to sporting opportunities during Apartheid, it would be hypocritical and immoral to see the other way today when the same is being done towards women anywhere in the world.”