Melbourne: Australia might cancel its historic maiden Test cricket match against Afghanistan if the Taliban bans Afghan women's team from playing cricket, Cricket Australia (CA) said on Thursday. The match was scheduled to conduct at Hobart (Australia) on November 27.
CA said that driving the growth of women's cricket worldwide was essential to the organisation. Their vision is that cricket is a sport for all, and they support the game equivocally for women at every level.
The Australian Cricketer's Association (ACA) also supported CA's decision. ACA tweeted that What is happening in Afghanistan is a human rights issue that transcends the game of cricket. They love playing with prominent players like Rashid Khan, but Roya Samim and her teammates (women's team) being banned from the game cannot be tolerated, it added.
On Wednesday, the deputy head of Taliban's cultural commission Ahmadullah Wasiq had told the Australian Broadcaster, SBS, that women would not play cricket, or any other game under the Taliban's regime, as it "is not necessary that women should play cricket."
Wasiq further said that while playing cricket, women might face situations where their face and body are left uncovered, which Islam doesn't allow. There will be photos and videos, and people will watch them. Islam and Islamic Emirate thus forbid women from sports where they get exposed, he said.
During the first time in power, the Taliban had banned most forms of entertainment, and stadiums were turned into public execution venues. Despite the Taliban's promise of leniency in restrictions, women in Afghanistan are prohibited from leaving home without a male family member and were stopped from working in some areas.