The Director of Cricket (ICC) has announced that it would form a dedicated working group to support the female cricket players from Afghanistan who were moved by the Taliban regime. The news is a happy surprise for many women who are fighting to represent their nation in the past three years.
“I can’t describe my feelings when I heard the news,” Firooza Afghan told DW. “I can’t say that it’s only three years. I think it’s over 20 years. When we were in Afghanistan and other women before us, they were fighting for this 2010 team. They were fighting to have a team so that we can represent our country as other women in countries like Pakistan, India, Australia.”
“This is great news not only for us, this is great news for all Afghan women around the world,” said Afghan. “And I believe that Afghan women and girls, they deserve this chance.”
Three years in Exlie
The Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, and since then, women have been excluded from most areas of public life, including sports. This meant that female cricket was no longer recognized, which prompted the players of the national team to write on the ICC to be recognized as a refugee team. Six months after obtaining his contract for a cricket for his country, the Afghan, like many of his teammates, had to flee in Australia.
The pressure of the governments of some of the main cricket nations on the ICC has followed, with Human Rights Watch even calling on the ICC to suspend members of Afghanistan and to ban the male team, which regularly competes in the World Cups, of competition. No action against the male team has never materialized and no modification has been made to members of the country’s ICC, even if Afghanistan does not have a female team, which is a requirement of the ICC. The announcement in April is therefore a huge moment.
The working group, trained in association with the largest cricket associations in the world game, namely India, England and Australia, includes “a dedicated fund to provide direct monetary assistance, ensuring that these cricket players have the resources they need to continue to continue the game they love”, according to the ICC press release. “This will be supplemented by a robust high performance program offering advanced coaching, world class facilities and tailor -made mentoring to help them reach their full potential.”
A return that sends a message
For Afghan, this last development is only the next step to tilt the game in their favor. After women in exile played their first game in more than three years in January – playing against cricket without borders in Australia in blue shirts, but without the flag or the colors of the country – the team is ready to come back.
“It’s not the end. We just started,” said Afghan. “I think that the story of women in Afghanistan is now to start again. I think the happy spot will come because you know, if you see the past, we were just fighting for that and we try to get our rights. But I hope that with this CPI support, with this chance, we can make history for all Afghan women.”
The impact of this news can extend beyond the current group.
“The first time that when I was a child, I just see the male games. And then I decided to play cricket and I just asked my mother:” Why doesn’t Afghanistan have a female team? “And she said,” Maybe you, you can do it “,” said Afghan. “And I just want that for the new generation. That they want to play cricket and they can see other Afghan women and they are encouraged to come and play.”
Hope is now that the ICC initiative can quickly turn into action and that Afghanistan women can again represent their country.
The interview was led by Janek Speight.
Edited by Matt Pearson.