The International Cricket Council (ICC) issued a statement late on Sunday stating that it had agreed with the sport’s national bodies in Australia, India and England to assist the displaced Afghan women’s players.
Afghan women cricketers will at last receive top-level assistance in a bid to return to international competition following the formation of a taskforce by the sport’s world governing body to manage direct funding, elite coaching and facilities for displaced players.
Dozens of Afghan national women’s team players moved to Australia when the Taliban regained power in 2021 and imposed bans on women’s sport. The players have been looking for official assistance since then.
ICC Chair Jay Shah Reaffirms Commitment
ICC chairman Jay Shah said his organisation is “deeply committed to fostering inclusivity and ensuring every cricketer has the opportunity to shine, regardless of their circumstances.”
“The ICC believes this (support fund) will not only help preserve the sporting careers of Afghan women cricketers but also reinforce the sport’s role as a unifying force that transcends borders and adversity,” he said.
Exhibition Match Highlights Afghan Women Cricketers’ Journey
An Afghanistan Women’s XI also played a Cricket Without Borders XI at Melbourne’s Junction Oval in an Australian government-supported exhibition game in January, bringing together 21 women cricketers who were previously contracted to the Afghanistan Cricket Board.
Since their exit from Afghanistan many of the women cricketers have been settled in the Australian capital and Melbourne and playing for club sides in local competitions.
Voices from the Team on Step Taken by ICC
Firooza Amiri said ahead of that exhibition match in January that her team “represents millions of women in Afghanistan who are denied their rights.”
Amiri escaped her native country with her family and initially went to Pakistan before being evacuated to Australia.
During Taliban control, the Afghanistan Cricket Board is unable to have a national women’s team because the laws of the country prohibit women from engaging in sport, studying and medical studies, actions that have been condemned by global groups such as the International Criminal Court.
Membership Obligations and Global Protests
Afghanistan is a full member of the International Cricket Council and as a condition of that membership it should be obliged to possess a women’s national team.
England and Australia have declined to play direct series against Afghanistan in protest, but still play the Afghan men in ICC events.
Renewed Hope After Men’s Team Success
It was the men’s Afghanistan historic march to the semifinals of last year’s Twenty20 World Cup that led the women’s team members to once more seek the ICC’s help regarding funding.
The team approached the ICC initially in 2023, seeking assistance for a refugee team from Australia to rejoin international cricket.
