International cricket bosses resisting calls to ban Afghanistan, Sky News learns

World cricket bosses person nary plans to prohibition Afghanistan's men from the Champions Trophy oregon to request the Taliban let a women's squad to correspond the country, Sky News has learned.

With the International Cricket Council's (ICC) ain argumentation requiring Test-playing nations to enactment women's cricket, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is backing calls for the sport's planetary governing assemblage to "deliver connected their ain rules".

Downing Street's involution connected Tuesday followed much than 160 MPs and peers asking the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to boycott their lucifer against Afghanistan astatine the ICC's 50-over tourney adjacent month.

And those boycott calls were backed contiguous by South Africa sports curate Gayton McKenzie with his state besides scheduled to play Afghanistan successful the aforesaid radical arsenic England.

But Cricket South Africa responded by saying: "The presumption connected Afghanistan indispensable beryllium guided by the satellite assemblage successful accordance with planetary tourney information requirements and regulations."

The interest is the ICC is allowing a breach of its ain rules since women and girls person been banned from sports since the Taliban returned to powerfulness successful 2021 and clamped down connected rights, with pistillate faces and bodies having to beryllium covered.

But Sky News understands the ICC intends to effort to yet power the Taliban to let women's cricket - utilizing athletics to present alteration - alternatively than penalising Afghanistan.

The ICC is understood to person adopted a presumption privately that antheral players should not beryllium punished for the Afghanistan government's policies, believing its subordinate relation cannot power the Taliban's position.

The ICC accepted Afghanistan arsenic a afloat subordinate successful 2017 contempt not complying with its constitution by having a women's cricket programme, and accepting spiritual reasons successful the Muslim nation.

But the Afghanistan Cricket Board did grant cardinal contracts to 25 pistillate players successful 2020 to signifier a squad "adhering to the accepted Afghan and Islamic values".

With the Taliban regaining power of the state successful 2021 and restricting the rights of women and girls, the planned planetary women's lucifer ne'er happened.

The ICC has an Afghanistan radical examining the concern successful an effort to usage the country's astir fashionable athletics to promote a restoration of women's rights.

An ICC spokesperson told Sky News: "The ICC remains intimately engaged with the concern successful Afghanistan and continues to collaborate with our members.

"We are committed to leveraging our power constructively to enactment the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) successful fostering cricket improvement and ensuring playing opportunities for some men and women successful Afghanistan.

"The ICC has established an Afghanistan Cricket Task Force, chaired by lawman president Mr Imran Khwaja, who volition pb the ongoing dialog connected this matter."

But the ICC, which made nary authoritative disposable for interview, has been criticised by Afghan women's sports campaigners.

"I'm precise disappointed and I americium precise bittersweet arsenic a pistillate of Afghanistan, arsenic an athlete," erstwhile Afghanistan women's shot skipper Khalida Popal told Sky News.

"The governing bodies are not showing leadership. We are talking astir much than 3 and fractional years astir the concern of Afghanistan.

"But the governing bodies of sports, they person failed. They person failed to instrumentality action. They person failed to basal by their ain policies and statutes.

"There has been a achromatic and achromatic sex favoritism successful sport, and they person ignored the women of Afghanistan."

FIFA, which is inactive allowing Afghanistan's men to vie internationally, is besides nether unit to question a restoration of women's shot having helped to evacuate players successful 2021 during the Taliban takeover.

Other nationalist associations person been banned for authorities interference successful their running.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has pledged to "find solutions" but said "political, societal and spiritual contexts successful antithetic parts of the satellite are sometimes beyond our quality to influence".

FIFA's presumption has influenced the attack of cricket bosses successful resisting making demands and threatening to punish Afghanistan.

But Ms Popal said: "We privation them to basal with the women of Afghanistan - to marque a beardown connection and nonstop a affirmative connection to the women of Afghanistan - that sports volition ne'er judge favoritism and exclusion of fractional of the population."

More from Sky News:
The conflict for equality successful Afghanistan
How Afghan women are dreaming big
Taliban bans women from nationalist park

The England and Wales Cricket Board refuses to organise immoderate bilateral men's matches against Afghanistan but wants a azygous attack from each countries erstwhile it comes to a determination connected whether to boycott ICC tourney matches.

Both the ECB and Cricket South Africa condemned the Taliban's attraction of women and girls.

Mr McKenzie, who serves successful South Africa's government, said: "It is not for maine arsenic the sports curate to marque the last determination connected whether South Africa should honour cricketing fixtures against Afghanistan.

"If it was my decision, past it surely would not happen.

"As a antheral who comes from a contention that was not allowed adjacent entree to sporting opportunities during Apartheid, it would beryllium hypocritical and immoral to look the different mode contiguous erstwhile the aforesaid is being done towards women anyplace successful the world."