Members of the Afghanistan cricket team during a match against Zimbabwe last month. Picture: Jekesai Njikizana/AFP
In the world of sport, we turn a blind eye too often. It’s as if our integrity can be sold to the highest bidder.
Sports minister Gayton McKenzie voiced his disappointment this week that Cricket South Africa seems happy enough for our national men’s team to face Afghanistan.
ALSO READ: McKenzie calls for Proteas to boycott matches against Afghanistan
The moment the Taliban took control of the Central Asian country and disbanded their national women’s cricket team, every sport should have banned them immediately.
Every country has its own political issues, but when laws are introduced that oppress half the population and there is obvious discrimination against women, we need to stand up as a collective.
It should be standard that if a country disbands its national women’s team in any sport, they should not be allowed to compete in men’s sport either, and it’s ridiculous that the International Cricket Council has not stepped in.
It’s also not the first time the sporting fraternity has ignored human rights issues, usually in exchange for money.
Despite already being super rich, international golfers, footballers and tennis players (among others) have ignored the plight of women in Saudi Arabia in exchange for some of their oil money.
And the rest of us need to shoulder some blame as well. Many fans seem happy enough to support sport in Saudi, and the media gives them the coverage they want.
While women in some Middle Eastern countries are told to sit down and shut up, the rest of us just carry on like nothing’s happening.
To be clear, when it comes to Sharia, some countries are stricter than others and we can’t just paint every nation with the same brush. But regardless of where each nation is on the scale of stripping women of basic rights, we can’t keep ignoring these issues.
Arguments have been made that many of the players in Afghanistan’s men’s cricket team don’t even live in the country and some have openly stated that they don’t support the Taliban.
That, however, is irrelevant. As long as the Taliban won’t let the women play, the men should be banned.
As much as it would hurt us as a cricketing nation if we boycotted our opening match of next month’s Champions Trophy tournament, refusing to play against Afghanistan would show much needed support for women in that country.
If you’re reading this, you obviously like sport, but no tournament should be worth the mistreatment of women.
I don’t agree with everything McKenzie says, and he does tend to shoot from the hip, but in this instance he is right.
And if Cricket SA has any integrity, our national team will not play against Afghanistan until the Taliban relaxes its laws.
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.
