Cricket Australia announced on Thursday that a historic maiden Test match against Afghanistan would be cancelled unless the Taliban reverses a claimed restriction on women participating in sports.
The governing body said the first men’s Test between the two countries, scheduled for November, was in jeopardy.
As the deputy chairman of the Taliban’s cultural commission, Ahmadullah Wasiq; state that women will not be allows to play cricket or any other sport under the new rule.
Wasiq told Australian broadcaster SBS on Wednesday that; “In cricket, they might face a situation where their face and body will not in covered. Islam does not allow women to look like this.”
“It is the media era, and there will be photos and videos, and then people watch it. Islam and the Islamic Emirate do not allow women to play cricket or play the kind of sports where they get expose.”
Australia issued a statement
“If recent media reports that women’s cricket will not be supported in Afghanistan are substantiated; Cricket Australia would have no alternative but not to host Afghanistan for the proposed Test match due to be played in Hobart” said Cricket Australia in its statement.
Cricket Australia further said that it is “incredibly important” for them to be driving the growth of women’s cricket globally. “Our vision for cricket is that it is a sport for all and we support the game unequivocally for women at every level,” it said.
The Afghan women’s team was discreetly dismantle a few years after its creation in 2010 due to safety concerns; but the ACB reactivated the team this year and signed 25 players to contracts.
Afghanistan’s maiden Test match against Australia was about to begin on November 27.
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