No Afghanistan in Women's T20 World Cup: Who to blame?

While Afghanistan has risen to prominence in international men’s cricket, things are vastly different for its women cricketers. For many, the journey is a continuous battle for acceptance, safety, and the right to play.

Afghanistan is the only full member country of the International Cricket Council (ICC) with no women’s team. They were awarded full member status in 2017 despite not fulfilling the governing body’s criteria. According to ICC rules, full members are supposed to have and support both men’s and women’s teams.

Being a full member comes with many benefits, including a bigger share in ICC’s revenue distribution. The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) receives approximately USD 17 million annually from the ICC as part of the revenue distribution model, which is supposed to be invested on both men’s and women’s cricket but is currently only being invested on the former. .

In fear of not losing their full member status, the ACB in November 2020 awarded central contracts to twenty-five players,in their bid to form a national team to take part in ICC tournaments. Unfortunately, eight months later, in August 2021, the Taliban took over the country and banned all sporting activities for women.

The central contracted players had no option but to flee the country. Two went to Canada, one to the United Kingdom and the rest of them sought refuge in Australia.

After the Afghanistan men’s team's successful campaign in the T20 world cup earlier this year, the female cricketers in Australia wrote to ICC requesting to recognize them as a refugee team. Their plea was supported by Australia and New Zealand Cricket Boards who suggested setting aside a percentage of Afghanistan revenue to fund women's cricket.

Unfortunately, their request fell in vain, as ICC neither recognize the players nor believe in deducting funds from the ACB’s distribution given the high cost of keeping the men’s team afloat, which, due to security reasons, do not play at home and are mostly based in either UAE or India.

The question here is, if the men’s team can operate from a third country, why can’t the women’s team do the same? Is ACB really afraid of the Taliban government or using it as a cover for its own regressive policies while enjoying all the benefits of being ICC’s full member status?