ECB rejects plea from UK MPs for England to boycott Afghanistan at Champions Trophy

Richard Gould, the ECB’s chief govt, has rejected calls from a gaggle of British politicians for England to boycott their upcoming Champions Trophy conflict with Afghanistan in February, saying that the Taliban regime’s clampdown on ladies’s rights is a matter that requires a “co-ordinated, ICC-led, response” moderately than unilateral motion from particular person nations.

England are as a result of face Afghanistan in Lahore on February 26 of their second match of the event, and the ECB is beneath stress to take motion after receiving a letter from the Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi, signed by a cross-party group of greater than 160 politicians, together with Jeremy Corbyn, Lord Kinnock and Nigel Farage.

“We strongly urge the England males’s group gamers and officers to talk out towards the horrific therapy of ladies and women in Afghanistan beneath the Taliban,” the letter, addressed to Gould, continued.

“We additionally urge the ECB to think about a boycott of the upcoming match towards Afghanistan … to ship a transparent sign that such grotesque abuses won’t be tolerated. We should stand towards intercourse apartheid and we implore the ECB to ship a agency message of solidarity and hope to Afghan ladies and women that their struggling has not been ignored.”

The state of affairs echoes the dilemma that England’s cricketers confronted on the 2003 World Cup, when Nasser Hussain’s group have been urged to boycott their group-stage match with Zimbabwe, then led by Robert Mugabe – a call that was in the end left to the gamers, and resulted in a factors forfeiture that scuppered their qualification for the event’s latter levels.

Gould’s response to Antoniazzi confirmed that the ECB has no intention of partaking in a bilateral sequence with Afghanistan whereas the Taliban regime is in energy, however insisted that their participation at ICC occasions was a matter for the governing physique as an entire, and never for particular person members.

“The ECB strongly condemns the therapy of ladies and women in Afghanistan beneath the Taliban regime,” Gould wrote. “The ICC structure mandates that each one member nations are dedicated to the expansion and growth of ladies’s cricket. In keeping with this dedication, the ECB has maintained its place of not scheduling any bilateral cricket matches towards Afghanistan,” he continued.

“Whereas there has not been a consensus on additional worldwide motion throughout the ICC, the ECB will proceed to actively advocate for such measures. A coordinated, ICC-wide method can be considerably extra impactful than unilateral actions by particular person members.

“We acknowledge and respect the various views on this world concern,” Gould added. “We perceive the considerations raised by those that consider a boycott of males’s cricket might inadvertently help the Taliban’s efforts to suppress freedoms and isolate Afghan society.

“It is essential to recognise the significance of cricket as a supply of hope and positivity for a lot of Afghans, together with these displaced from the nation. The ECB is dedicated to discovering an answer that upholds the rights of ladies and women in Afghanistan whereas additionally contemplating the broader impression on the Afghan folks.

“We’ll proceed to have interaction in constructive dialogue with the UK authorities, different stakeholders, the ICC, and different worldwide cricket boards to discover all potential avenues for significant change.”