Champions Trophy 2025: Calls grow in England to boycott Afghanistan match but ECB unlikely to change stance

It’s not just celebrity English broadcaster, Piers Morgan, who is demanding the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to boycott playing against Afghanistan in cricket’s Champions Trophy 2025 tournament. An Olympic star and activists have also joined the growing criticism of the cricket board. The England cricket board has been accused of being “misogynistic” for allowing the men’s team to play against Afghanistan.

Afghanistan have already lost their women’s cricket team since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. The members of the Afghanistan women’s team have since been living in exile in Australia. Taliban has also taken multiple decisions to cut down women’s rights, like imposing bans on girls from attending schools, universities, gyms, beauty salons, hairdressers, and even public parks. The latest restriction prohibits windows that allow women to be seen from outside, further tightening control over their visibility in public life.

‘Time we took a stand’

Morgan, who is a well-known cricket fan, in a social media post said that England should set an example by not playing against Afghanistan next month in the ICC Champions Trophy group stage match in protest of the Taliban’s “ever-worsening oppression of Afghan women”.

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“The @englandcricket men’s team must cancel their match against Afghanistan in the ICC Champions Trophy group stage on Feb 26. The Taliban’s disgusting and ever-worsening oppression of Afghan women, including banning them from all sport, is unconscionable. Time we took a stand,” he wrote on X.

The @englandcricket men’s team must cancel their match against Afghanistan in the ICC Champions Trophy group stage on Feb 26. The Taliban’s disgusting and ever-worsening oppression of Afghan women, including banning them from all sport, is unconscionable.
Time we took a stand.

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 2, 2025

The women’s rights group – Women’s Rights Network – recently asked England players and coaches “to examine their consciences” as they get ready to take on Afghanistan.

“Women’s Rights Network calls for England to forfeit the match. In fact, we call on our politicians and sports governing bodies to go further. We call for: [UK Prime Minister] Keir Starmer to order a boycott of all Afghanistan fixtures in any sport, the [England Cricket Team] to forfeit all matches against the Afghanistan men’s cricket team in any tournament, players and coaches to examine their consciences – the women in your families are free to dress how they please, be educated, take jobs, travel, have bank accounts, speak and sing. How can you in all conscience play a country that denies women their basic human rights?” the group asked in a statement.

Former Great Britain swimmer Sharron Davies, who won a silver medal in the 1980 Moscow Olympics, said it would be a “shame” if the England men’s cricket team played its match against Afghansitan.

“Even though Afghanistan has removed every basic human right they can from women in their country – education, a public voice and even the ability to look out a window, basically rendering them domestic slaves – the ECB are happy to look the other misogynistic way and play cricket against their men’s team,” she told The Telegraph.

“It’s appalling double standards. Shame on any player that agrees to go along with this. Women’s rights across the world are being eroded and it’s time decent men stood up and were counted.”

ECB not expected to change its policy

The media reports in England, however, have suggested that the ECB is in no mood to change its policy and boycott the match against Afghanistan.

England, just like Australia, only play against Afghanistan in ICC events. They have in fact never played a bilateral match but have faced each other in ICC events.