Blitz Bureau
JOHANNESBURG: South Africa’s Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie has given his support to calls for a boycott of Afghanistan at the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan, adding his voice to those of British politicians who have called on England not to play the South Asian nation at the tournament next month.
“Cricket South Africa, the federations of other countries and the ICC (International Cricket Council) will have to think carefully about the message the sport of cricket wishes to send the world, and especially the women in sports,” he said in a statement, according an Al Jazeera report. “It is not for me as the Sports Minister to make the final decision on whether South Africa should honour cricketing fixtures against Afghanistan. If it was my decision, then it certainly would not happen.”
England and South Africa share the same group with Afghanistan in the one-day international (ODI) competition and are under pressure to boycott the fixtures in response to the Taliban Government’s crackdown on women’s rights since returning to power in August 2021.
South Africa are scheduled to open their Champions Trophy schedule against Afghanistan in Karachi on February 21 but McKenzie urged his country’s cricket governing body not to honour the fixture.
