Cricket: Afghanistan boycott backed by former NI first minister

Former Northern Ireland First Minister Baroness Foster has called for the England men's cricket team to boycott matches against Afghanistan. She, along with seven other parliamentarians and peers from Northern Ireland, and over 160 other parliamentarians, are supporting the boycott due to the Taliban regime's oppression of women.

Speaking to BBC News Northern Ireland, Foster said, "The actions of the Afghan regime absolutely define it as a rogue state, particularly in its continued oppression of women." Social Democratic and Labour Party MP Claire Hanna stated that Afghanistan "directly mixes sport and politics by imposing such severe restrictions on women's participation in sport." Other Northern Irish politicians from the Democratic Unionist Party, Alliance Party, and Ulster Unionist Party have also joined the calls for a boycott.

In response, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has called for a unified approach to the Afghanistan issue but has not explicitly stated whether it will boycott. England is scheduled to play against Afghanistan in the Cricket Champions Trophy on February 26, but some UK politicians want the team to refuse to participate in the 50-over match in protest against the Taliban regime's violations of women's rights.

Since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in 2021, women have been banned from education, sports, and most public life. Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi wrote to the ECB urging the England team to boycott the match to "send a clear signal" that "this appalling abuse is not tolerated." Antoniazzi is also the chair of the Westminster Northern Ireland Affairs Committee.

The letter continued, "The blatant denial of opportunities for Afghan women cricketers is shocking, and is just one aspect of the Taliban’s ongoing and unjustified oppression of women and girls." It also noted that members of the Afghan women's cricket team have fled the country and are now in exile overseas. Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Lord Kinnock, along with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, have also signed the letter calling for the ECB to boycott the match.

The Northern Ireland signatories include Hanna, Alliance Party MP Sorcha Eastwood, Ulster Unionist MP Robin Swann, and four members of the House of Lords: Baroness Foster, Lord Morrow, Baroness Ritchie, and Baroness O’Loan. Foster, in her interview with BBC News Northern Ireland, stated that her decision to sign the letter to ECB Chief Executive Richard Gould was due to the Taliban's treatment of women. "Anything that can raise the plight of women in Afghanistan, I will absolutely support because the way in which the Taliban are suppressing the freedoms of women gets more bizarre by the week."

Foster added, "I'm not a supporter of boycotts, but the actions of the Afghan regime absolutely define it as a rogue state, particularly in its continued oppression of women." Hanna said it was an "issue of solidarity." She stated, "We all know that despite promises to the contrary, the situation for women in Afghanistan is deteriorating. Sporting organizations and everyone who has an opportunity to demonstrate these principles should take it. Afghanistan has directly mixed sport and politics by imposing such severe restrictions on women’s participation in sport, it is a deeply political act that they have taken."

In response to the letter calling for a boycott, ECB Chief Executive Richard Gould said that the governing body is "committed to finding a solution" to "uphold the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan." He also stated that a coordinated approach by the International Cricket Council (ICC) would be "more impactful than unilateral action by individual members."