Afghan Women Cricketers Urge Foreign Players to Reject Proposed League

What changed

Overseas players have signed for the proposed inaugural Afghanistan Premier League despite Afghan women cricketers urging them to reject participation.

Eight England players joined the draft, alongside players from Scotland, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Bangladesh. The men’s franchise league is expected to begin in December in the UAE, but the ICC has not sanctioned it.

Why it matters

The dispute is about more than one tournament. Afghan women’s participation in sport has been effectively outlawed since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, forcing many female cricketers to leave the country for their safety.

Nahida Sapan, who captained the Afghanistan Refugee Women’s XI, said foreign players had a chance to stand with Afghan women and girls by staying away. Her argument is blunt: playing in the league risks making their exclusion look like something the sporting world can live with.

That creates an uncomfortable split in cricket’s position. The ECB and Australia do not schedule bilateral cricket with Afghanistan, yet England players have continued to face the men’s team at global events. Ollie Pope withdrew after the ECB urged players to reconsider their involvement in the new league.

Afghan women players have repeatedly asked the ICC to recognise them again as an international team. They currently play as the Afghan Refugee Women’s Team. The ICC, England, Australia and India announced financial support for them in April 2025, extending that funding in July.

The league’s future is still unsettled. It may not receive ICC sanction, and its December start is not guaranteed. The next test will be whether the criticism changes any players’ decisions before the competition begins.