Jay Shah
Chair, International Cricket Council
Street 69, Dubai Sports City, Sh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road,
Dubai, PO Box 500 070, United Arab Emirates
Via email
Re: Suspending the Afghanistan Cricket Board and Implementing a Human Rights Policy
Dear Mr. Shah,
We write on behalf of Human Rights Watch, an independent, international, non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights abuses by states and non-state actors around the world. We have been working on the intersection of human rights and sport, including the human rights responsibilities of international sport governing bodies, for more than two decades.
We are writing at this time to urge the International Cricket Council (ICC) to suspend Taliban-run Afghanistan from ICC membership, and from participating in international cricket, until women and girls can once again participate in education and sport in the country. We also urge the ICC to implement a human rights policy based on the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
We note that you have pledged “to allocate more resources to women’s cricket” during your tenure at the helm of global cricket and “champion the ICC’s mission further by allocating more resources and attention to women’s cricket.”
However, since retaking power in August 2021, the Taliban have imposed a long and growing list of rules and policies that bars women and girls from exercising their fundamental rights, including to freedom of expression and movement, many forms of employment, and education beyond sixth grade. These affect virtually all their rights, including to life, livelihood, shelter, health care, food, and water.
The Taliban has banned all sport for women and girls, closed sports training centers, and threatened athletes with violence, athletes have reported. As a result, some Afghan women and girl athletes went into hiding and sought to destroy evidence of their ties to sport, including medals and sport kits. Many female athletes remain in Afghanistan, unable to safely train and play their sport.
The ICC’s “Anti-Discrimination Policy for International Cricket,” says it is:
committed to ensuring that wherever cricket is played, it can be enjoyed by all Players, Player Support Personnel, officials, spectators, commercial partners and others regardless of their respective backgrounds. In particular, the ICC strives to ensure that all such participants can enjoy the sport without being the subject of conduct that is (for example) offensive, insulting, humiliating or intimidating on the basis of race, religion, culture, colour, descent, nationality, ethnic origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability, marital status and/or maternity status.
The athletes of the Afghan Women’s National Cricket Team have taken extraordinary risks to escape Taliban repression, and they have expressed their demands to be recognized by the ICC and to play as a national team. By not allowing women and girls to play cricket, and not allowing a national team for women and girls to compete internationally, the Afghanistan Cricket Board is failing to abide by this Anti-Discrimination Policy.
We note that cricket has been included as a sport in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, and yet the Taliban’s ban on women and girls participating in the sport is a severe violation of the Olympic Charter’s guarantee that “the practice of sport is a human right.” The International Olympic Committee Strategic Framework on Human Rights calls all international sports federations to implement “equality and non-discrimination.” The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights require remedy for gender-based discrimination in the workplace.
It has been reported that payments to the Women’s National Cricket Team members were cut off in 2021, and the team has received no contact from the International Cricket Council or Afghanistan Cricket Board despite multiple attempts to request support. This disparate treatment—in which the Afghan Men’s National Cricket Team receives financial and logistical support and the Women’s National Team does not—appears to violate both the Olympic Charter and the ICC’s own anti-discrimination rules. In October 1999, during the Taliban’s previous time in power, the IOC suspended Afghanistan’s National Olympic Committee until 2003 on grounds that the Taliban was barring women from competing in sports.
We would appreciate a timely response to the following questions so that they can be reflected in our reporting:
What steps is the ICC taking toward developing a human rights policy and incorporating the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights into policies and operations?
How has the ICC addressed the denial of the right to play sport for all women and girls in Afghanistan? Specifically:Why hasn’t the ICC suspended the Afghan Cricket Board from the ICC, and from participating in international cricket, until Taliban leadership confirm that Afghan women and girls have access to education and sport?
Like the IOC’s recognition of the exiled Afghan National Olympic Committee and female Olympians, would the ICC be prepared to recognize the Afghan Women’s National Team in exile to train and complete, and to receive ICC financial support, as the ICC has supported the Afghan Men’s National Cricket Team?
How has the ICC provided or plans to provide support, including effective remedy, compensation, and reconciliation, to the women and girls who have been excluded from playing cricket?
What steps has the ICC taken or plans to take to pressure the Afghanistan Cricket Board to include women and girl players in their competitions?
What funding and other support has the ICC provided or plans to provide to the Afghanistan Cricket Board?
The International Cricket Council should follow in the steps of other sport governing bodies, such as the International Olympic Committee, by calling on the Taliban to include Afghan women and girls in sport, and committing to a human rights framework.
We would appreciate a written response to our questions and a meeting with you to discuss our recommendations.
We request your reply with a written response by February 12, 2025. Please note that we may publish your response at our discretion and when appropriate, either in full or in part.
Sincerely,
Minky Worden
Director of Global Initiatives
Human Rights Watch
cc.
International Olympic Committee Human Rights Director Magali Martowicz
Global Partner Coca-Cola Human Rights Director Paul Lalli