Taliban Takeover Afghanistan And Chief admits women cricketers to be in peril!

With the Taliban’s return, the future of Afghan women’s cricket is at risk

Hamid Shinwari is the new CEO at Afghanistan Cricket Board. “women cricketers and women cricket staff are in peril” After the country returned to Taliban rule.

After the withdrawal of American troops, the Taliban took control of Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, in mid-August.

During the Taliban’s last reign, women were not allowed in schools, and playing sports was practically impossible.

The ACB declared last November that they were going to award central contracts for 25 women cricketers. They are also required by the ICC, in order to keep their full member status, to have a women’s national team.

Shinwari said that the Taliban have yet to make any public statements about the future women’s sports. ESPNcricinfo: “Currently, women cricketers and women cricket staff are in peril.”

Shinwari has also told stories in the past BBC Sport: “I think it [Afghanistan’s women’s team] will be stopped – that is my assumption.

“The concept of women’s cricket in Afghanistan is relatively new so I am not sure how it will impact the country’s progress.

“It is up to the government to decide and as an employee, we go ahead with the rules and regulations.”

Some of Afghanistan’s female cricketers fled Afghanistan after the Taliban returned. Roya Samim fled to Canada just two days before Kabul fell.

She said The Guardian last month: “The Taliban are against girls studying, so how do they want a girl’s cricket team?

“My fellow teammates who have been in Afghanistan for a while are also afraid and stay in their homes. They are depressed and beg for help. They are both physically and emotionally not well.

“We all emailed the ICC but got no response from them. Why do they not respond to us, why do they not consider us, even treat us that we don’t exist in the world?

“After the Taliban entered Kabul, we asked that [the ICC]Please save all the women, we are worried about our colleagues. The ACB did not say anything, they just said: “Wait.”

A spokesperson for the ICC said: “As you would expect, we keep in touch with the Afghanistan Cricket Board. We monitor the situation closely and offer our support.

An anonymous cricketer also told the story BBC Sport: “Every woman playing cricket or other sports is not safe right now. The situation is very bad in Kabul.

“We have a WhatsApp group and we talk about our problems every night and share plans for what we should do. We’re all hopeless.

“In Afghan culture, there are barriers that affect sport for women. They say that women are weak and are not built to play cricket.

“They have to get married and give birth and work at home and bring up the children. They must take care of their husbands.

“My family also says that I can’t play cricket because of the Islamic culture. It is something I enjoy.

“The situation is bad for us. But there is hope while we are breathing. If we get taken from the country and taken somewhere else we will start again. We will not give up on our dreams, inshallah [if Allah wills it].”