England To Boycott Champions Trophy 2025? Afghan Female Olympian Calls For Action

Champions Trophy 2025 [Source: @CricCrazyJohns/X]

In a surprising turn of events, one of Afghanistan’s first female Olympians, Friba Rezayee, has urged the England cricket team to boycott their upcoming Champions Trophy match against Afghanistan. 

The mega-tournament is scheduled to take place in Pakistan next month. Rezayee’s call for action stems from the ongoing oppression of female athletes in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime.

Why Is Afghan Olympian Asking For A Boycott?

Friba Rezayee, who represented Afghanistan in judo at the 2004 Athens Olympics, has been a vocal advocate for women's rights in sports. She highlighted that Afghan female athletes are treated as if they don’t exist under the Taliban's rule. 

In her open letter, Rezayee made an emotional appeal to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), asking them to stand in solidarity with Afghan women by refusing to play against Afghanistan’s men’s cricket team.

Here's what she wrote in the open letter:

The call to boycott the match is not new. A group of British politicians had already urged the ECB to withdraw from the fixture as a protest against the Taliban’s actions, which include banning women from participating in sports and public life. Critics argue that playing against Afghanistan’s cricket team legitimises a regime that actively suppresses women’s rights.

What Has The ECB Said?

Despite these calls, the ECB has confirmed that England will not be boycotting the match. According to ECB chief executive Richard Gould, England’s policy of not playing bilateral series against Afghanistan remains in place. 

However, since the Champions Trophy is an ICC-organized event, England will participate in the scheduled match against Afghanistan.

This is not the first time a cricket board has faced this dilemma. Earlier, Australia canceled a bilateral series against Afghanistan in protest of the Taliban’s restrictions on women. However, they still played against Afghanistan in major tournaments like the 2023 ODI World Cup and the 2024 T20 World Cup.

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