Boycott calls binned as Proteas take on Afghanistan in Champions Trophy

SA face Afghanistan in the Champions Trophy on Friday with chatter about boycotts now muted.

On January 9 Gayton McKenzie released a statement calling on Cricket SA to boycott the Proteas’ fixture with Afghanistan because of what he described as “gender apartheid”, which was and still is being practised by the Taliban regime that rules Afghanistan.

It followed reports two days earlier of a letter written by anti-apartheid campaigner Peter Hain to Cricket SA also calling for a boycott of the match by the Proteas. Around the same time 160 British MPs had demanded the England team boycott its match scheduled for February 26.

The MPs, Hain and McKenzie are now all silent, distracted by Trump, war and an untabled budget. Their calls can now be seen for what they were — grandstanding that paid no heed to the available mechanisms, which could have had far more damaging effects on the Taliban.

The ICC, which oversees the running of the Champions Trophy and also — supposedly — governs the sport, has made flimsy noises about dealing with the Afghan issue for the past three years. Twenty-five female cricketers from Afghanistan have gone into exile after the Taliban retook control in August 2021. Of these players, 22 are in Australia, where arguably the most significant cricket match this year took place in Melbourne at the end of January against a local invitation side.

In the fortnight before the Champions Trophy, the volume about Afghanistan’s continued status in cricket was lowered, but the problems that motivated Hain, McKenzie and those British MPs to demand a boycott still exist.

Citizens are flogged in stadiums, women are not allowed to speak in public, an underground radio station featuring female hosts was shut down and authorities continue to police women’s attire.

Taliban in India

Meanwhile, the Taliban have met the Indian government and just this week a senior delegation arrived in Japan for talks about human rights and greater political inclusivity.

On the cricket front, the ICC remains flaky on the topic. It has the Afghanistan Cricket Task Force, led by deputy chair Imran Khwaja, “leading ongoing dialogue” on the matter.

Their own rules seem simple enough to enforce. As a full member of the ICC — with Test status — Afghanistan’s cricket authorities have to use a portion of the funding it receives from the ICC for a women’s programme and to contract women’s cricketers.

But, despite that not being the case, the Afghan Cricket Board still receives money from the ICC.

Afghanistan’s men’s team, one of the great success stories in all sport, continues to be allowed to play, even as individuals such as Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi call for restrictions on Afghan women to be lifted.

The ICC is unlikely to take a meaningful stance on the subject. ICC leader Jay Shah’s bias, because of his father’s senior position in the Indian government, should surprise no-one. This is after all an organisation that appears to have given up governing the game, and rather has turned into what the great West Indies fast bowler and former commentator Michael Holding first described as an “events management company”.

In the case of the Champions Trophy it cannot even do that properly. As it stands, no-one knows where the final will take place on March 9.

Proteas captain Temba Bavuma was not asked a question about boycotts in his brief prematch media engagement in Karachi on Thursday.

He has previously talked about the importance of equality in the sport, but there is little else he can do as part of a professional team. There are mechanisms in place to deal with such issues, but the ICC chooses not to use them — mainly because of political expediency.

SA may win or lose to Afghanistan, and if it’s the latter they’ll be called chokers again. But it will not matter as it is not the most important issue regarding this match or tournament. It never was.