Amnesty International Urges Cricket World To Support Afghan Women’s National Team

Amnesty International has urged the cricket world to support the Afghan women's national cricket team to play at the highest level.

The organisation welcomed the return of the Afghan women's national cricket team to the field after years of exile, calling it "great news”.

On Friday, January 31, Amnesty International supported the Afghan women's cricket team's match in Melbourne, Australia, saying that the Taliban must "immediately" lift "severe restrictions" on the rights of Afghan women and girls.

The organisation stressed that the Taliban must end systematic gender-based harassment in Afghanistan.

The Afghan women's cricket team recently played a friendly match against Women's Cricket Without Borders after nearly three and a half years.

The match, held in Melbourne, Australia, ended with the Afghan women's cricket team losing by seven wickets. However, some sports experts have called the return of the women's team to the field a "major victory" for Afghan women.

After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, they banned all sports for women, among other restrictions. The members of the Afghan women's cricket team, who are based in Australia, have not participated in any official match since then.