'Not enough action' to raise Taliban oppression of women after controversial Belfast cricket match as UUP demands review
Feminist activists have criticsed Cricket Ireland for what they say is an absence of action to raise the plight of Afghan women following controversial cricket matches.
They say that a promised “spotlight” on the issue, which was given as the rationale for letting the August Afghanistan v Ireland series go ahead, has been lacking, and that Cricket Ireland’s actions so far “do not cut it”.
The Ireland and Afghanistan men’s cricket teams played each-other for three days at Stormont in Belfast from August 10 to 15, and for two games before that at Magheramason, Co Tyrone from August 5 to 7.
There were calls to axe the fixtures lest they lend legitimacy to the Taliban regime, and women protestors clad in burkhas demonstrated outside the Stormont grounds to make this point.
The English team, for instance, has refused to play Afghanistan in protest at what Richard Thompson, chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, has called “gender apartheid”.
In addition to the feminist activists’ comments, UUP leader Jon Burrows has also now written to Cricket Ireland to demand a review of the decision to let the games proceed.
In early August when the News Letter initially enquired about the Ireland-Afghanistan games, Cricket Ireland responded that “we hope to use the opportunity to shine a light on issues” facing Afghan women, and that the Afghan women’s refugee team “do not want to prevent their men’s team from playing cricket, but rather leverage the attention to bring a spotlight on the issues of women’s rights in Afghanistan and their own plight”.
The News Letter can see no mention of women’s rights in Afghanistan on Cricket Ireland’s website since the series began.
Its Facebook page had a post on August 10 saying: “Cricket is for everyone. Our staff are wearing pink throughout the Ireland Men v Afghanistan series to recognise and celebrate universal human rights for women and girls and in solidarity with the Afghan Women’s Refugee team. We explain why – and the steps Cricket Ireland is taking to support Afghan Women’s team [followed by an accompanying video].”
The News Letter could not see anything similar on Twitter (X) or Instagram.
‘WEARING PINK NOT ENOUGH’:
One of the burkha protestors, Marianne Stewart, has told the News Letter: "Cricket Ireland did make efforts to highlight the oppression of the Afghan women, notably by having staff wear pink in solidarity and by engaging with and inviting the exiled women’s team to play in Ireland.
"However, given the prominence of the five-match series, much more could have been done: the women could have been given a far more visible presence at the matches and their exclusion from international cricket made a central part of the series…
"There was a profound opportunity to make the plight of the Afghan women’s cricket team, and of women and girls in general under the Taliban, we the absolute centrepiece of this series.
"Ultimately, wearing a pink shirt just doesn’t cut it."
Meanwhile the Women’s Rights Network NI, which also objected to the games, has said: “Unfortunately, this is exactly what we feared.
“Cricket Ireland justified proceeding with the match by claiming it would use the opportunity to shine a light on the treatment of Afghan women.
"Instead, Cricket Ireland has facilitated Afghanistan’s further progression in the World Cup, with seemingly no meaningful media coverage or public condemnation from them of the regime’s appalling treatment of women and girls.
"Women in Afghanistan are banned from playing cricket because they are women.
"The men’s team, meanwhile, continues to be welcomed onto the international stage.
"The promised ‘spotlight’ appears to have disappeared as soon as the match was over.”
‘REVIEW POLICY ON PLAYING AFGHANISTAN’:
Mr Burrows has penned a letter to Cricket Ireland voicing “deep concern” about the matches going ahead, adding: “I recognise that the players themselves are not responsible for the Taliban’s actions.
"However, international sporting participation brings legitimacy and prestige.
"Those benefits should not continue entirely unaffected while women and girls are denied the right to participate.”
He said he would “welcome an explanation” as to how the decision was reached, and has called for it to be “urgently reviewed”.
Women have been expunged from public life since the Taliban reconquest of Afghanistan in 2021, and its women’s cricket team was effectively outlawed and sent into exile.
Nevertheless Afghanistan remains a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC – the parent body of Cricket Ireland) despite the existence of women’s cricket being a condition of a nation’s full membership.
Cricket Ireland was contacted about the criticisms in this article.
It pledged to write back to Mr Burrows.
Back in March, RTE had quoted the CEO of Cricket Ireland, Sarah Keane, as saying “I want to acknowledge the discomfort we feel around that decision and our abhorrence around the treatment of women by the regime in particular – but we also see it as an opportunity to reference the [Afghan] women’s team”.
"We didn’t just invite the men’s team to come here, we also invited the women’s team, and we are in discussions around how that might happen.
"In think scheduling may be a problem around this year, but it’s really important that they don’t fall off the agenda and we need the plight of the women’s team to be on that agenda.
"The challenge for us is how we support them and how do we support our values in relation to that."