South Africa has confirmed that it will play bilateral cricket matches with Afghanistan in the future
The South African Cricket Board has confirmed that it will continue to play bilateral matches with Afghanistan as it believes that the team should not be punished for the actions of the Islamic Emirate.
The South African Cricket Board said this after a human rights organization called for a boycott of Afghanistan because of the Islamic Emirate’s policies on women and girls.
In a statement released on Thursday, the South African Cricket Board confirmed that while it believes “women’s cricket deserves equal recognition and success”, it will not unilaterally isolate the Afghanistan men’s team because of the Islamic Emirate’s policy.
The announcement reads: “The South African Cricket Board is mindful that gender equality should never come at the expense of one gender over the other. “We recognize that supporting the advancement of one gender should not undermine the rights of the other.”
The South African Cricket Board emphasized that there is no justification for banning the Afghan players.
This is while the Australian Cricket Board has taken an opposite position and has refused to play a bilateral match with Afghanistan in protest against the Islamic Emirate’s policies regarding women and girls, according to the advice of its government.
South Africa and Afghanistan are currently engaged in a series of fifty-over matches in the United Arab Emirates.
Afghanistan won the first match by six wickets and registered their first victory against South Africa in history.
The second game will start on Friday evening.
